Global Voices Online

Colombian bloggers have so far said very little about Sunday's congressional elections, but Boz did update his readers on El Salvador and Colombia throughout the day. Sergio Méndez of Bogotá is amazed by the 60% abstention rate (ES) and describes President Uribe as, “despite all his rhetoric, more and more like [Venezuelan President] Chavez.” Professor Matthew Shugart offers his analysis on the tenuous alliance of independent parties that has been dubbed, “Uribismo” after President Álvaro Uribe. Shugart's rundown also has a handy breakdown of the post-electoral Senate.

Early this morning, Tim Muth posted the initial results of yesterday's election in El Salvador: “Across the country, ARENA appears to have won 33 seats in the National Assembly versus 32 seats for the FMLN.” He then posts that in the San Salvador mayoral race Violeta Menjivar trails Rodrigo Samayoa by just 15 votes. Susan Dunlop wrote her own observations of election day.

Jim Shultz speculates on the probability that Bolivia will not renew its often-criticized lending agreement with the International Monetary Fund. A commenter on Miguel Buitrago's weblog links to the full report by Mark Weisbrot, Co-Director at the Center for Economic Policy Research, on the issue.

Fernando Casale can't stop listening to the new EP of Argentine indie group, Turpentine. You can listen to it yourself as all seven tracks are available for download.

Oaxaca Dockters describe Son Jarocho, a type of folk music with roots in Veracruz. Two other posts document the music with photography.

LJ user macsim_by links to photos from a rock concert “Solidarni z Bialorusia” (”Solidarity With Belarus”) that was held in Warsaw Sunday.

LJ users aliaksei and belnetmon share their impressions (RUS) and photos of the opposition candidate Milinkevich's meeting with the voters in Minsk on Sunday: two to three thousand people of all ages showed up, including some agents provocateurs and undercover KGB men; the music was blaring so that no one could hear the candidate speaking. LJ user aptymist (BEL) also links to some pictures from the meeting. A man with a video camera on aliaksei's last photo is, most likely, a KGB agent filming the meeting's participants.

Oneworld Multimedia carries roundups of the English-language and Armenian-language Armenian blogospheres.

Zarchka of Life Around Me writes about korfball in Armenia and says she is excited that a team from her country will be playing in the first youth world championship in Holland, where the game originated.

The Golden Road to Samarqand notes that Navruz is on its way and looks at the different ways that the holiday is celebrated in Central Asia.

Shards of Mongolia says that corruption in the Mongolian government causes it to not do enough to stop censorship, and that if it truly wants to claim itself as a free and democratic state, it must do more to combat this problem.

Onnik Krikorian notes that the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia is now touching Armenia's entry in to the Eurovision Song Contest. The entrant's listing of the “Republic of Nagorno Karabakh” as his birthplace is being taken as an offense by Azerbaijan.

br23 blog reports on the arrest of Siarhiej Antonchyk, a retired politician, and his son this past Friday. LJ user baleslau (RUS) posts a photo of the judge who has sentenced the two men to 15 days in prison. The same judge - Ms. Reutskaya - ruled on other opposition members' cases earlier. baleslau also reports (RUS) on how two young men from the town of Kalinkovichi were throwing snowballs at each other and, quite mysteriously, ended up being arrested and sentenced to 15 days as well. The men happened to be working for the opposition candidate Milinkevich.

A Chicago-based LJ user angstzeit encounters a Russian-speaking bear and through a flashmob of Russian commenters learns about the Preved!-mania. John Lurie's original drawing; hundreds of followups at ru_preved LJ community; Preved! CafePress.com stuff; lots of Russian slang and obsceneties; a Cold War between the Preved Bear and the O RLY Owl; a discussion of stereotypes - and an invitation to visit Russia from LJ user romeus: “All of my American friends tell me that they have gotten happier after they visited Russia. you should come visit Moscow! PREVED!!! In Moscow the “Preveders” have already gone twice to the Moscow zoo to say PREVED to the bears. How happy is that?!!! :)))”

The death of Slobodan Milosevic inspires Gazing into the Abyss to write about the Czechs' feelings toward (what used to be) Yugoslavia: “‘Yugoslavia' is likeable word for Czech ears. Serbia and Montenegro, Croatia, BiH, Slovenia, Macedonia… they are not. Most Czechs never took an effort to grasp what happened in their beloved Yugoslavia, and why; and how; and who's responsible. […]”

Back in February, Jen and Derrick Teal of A Year in the Czech Republic visited the Museum of Romani Culture in Brno, located in the city's Roma neighborhood: “Suddenly, almost everyone we passed had the darker skin tone of many Roma Czechs and the fairer-skinned Czechs seemed to have disappeared, and sadly, the buildings and streets were in considerably worse disrepair, an unfortunate sign of the modern difficulties faced by the Roma people in this, and other, countries.”

Khalidah asks: “Should a blogger be appointed to maintain the corporate blog; he/she must be brave and credible enough to provide the audience with trusted content that will promote the credibility of the corporation as a whole. But are Arab corporations ready to give such power to one of their people? Are they willing to trust someone that much and stand accountable for their own mistakes and talk about them before anyone else does?”

The indulgence of politicians is well documented and for all to see. Ram has the opportunity to share flight time with the premier from another part of the world and is impressed by relative simplicity of Finland Prime Minister's entourage.

Chocolate and Gold Coins on the recent blogmeet in the US which had Indian bloggers (apparently) having a lot of fun and cake.

Razib has a post based on another article on the very delicate issue of the Farakka Barrage, and water politics between India and Bangladesh.

Charu on a venture that seeks to link women who seek employment as domestic help to families who are on-the-lookout for employees and has grave doubts.

The Olive Ream, with characteristic humour presents the anatomy of a protest. The story of how some bloggers picked up on the threads after blogspot blogs were blocked by ISPs in Pakistan from the horse's mouth.

Smi reports that FIFA has ruled that “patrons bearing ‘iron made instruments’” may not be allowed into World Cup 2006 matches, on the grounds that “iron is ‘heavy’ and ‘can be used as a weapon.’” Which means that fans of Trinidad and Tobago's football team may have to do without their traditional rhythm sections and steel pans. “Fair(ish) point,” says Smi. “Although, on the grounds of ‘potential for violence’ shouldn’t England fans be banned en masse from attending any international football games, anywhere, forever?”

Francis Wade — and, it would seem, several of his compatriots — senses a “whiff of possibility” in the recent changes in the Jamaican political status quo, notably the ascension of a woman to the position of Prime Minister. “Out of nowhere, it seems, our murders have dropped by 20% in the last couple of months,” Francis writes. “It is the kind of thing that happens when possibility enters that air, and let us all work to make it last.”

When is a real “third force” going to emerge on the Guyanese political scene, asks Roopster.

Monologist takes MediaCritic to task for the latter's criticism of the Guyanese President's absence from the historic meeting ratifying the Caribbean Single Market in January. “I think, by not going to this conference Guyana actually made a statement to these Caricom ‘brothers and sisters' that have time and time again spat on us,” says Monologist.

The Asia Pages relates a long and intense debate about parental sacrifice and obligation with a Korean man on-line. In the end, she is told, she doesn't understand because she's not Korean.

As Cuba faces Venezuela in the World Baseball Classic in Puerto Rico, Zenia Regalado's neighbours kill and roast a sheep (ES).

Musing Under the Tenement Palm blogs about Sogdians, the builders of Bokhara and Samarkand, who spoke Persian and plied the Silk Route through Central Asia and into China for 15 centuries. They show up quite extensively in Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907) records recently unearthed in a Turpan burial site.

Glutter is disgusted at the arrogance and lack of courtesy shown to Chinese-language authors at recent workshops in the Hong Kong Literary Festival 2006, who are constantly asked to account for their work with a Western audience in mind. “I still have five more lectures to go and I am starting to dread the whole festival for the most part because so far, as the questions asked isn't about the book, the content, or the stories at all,” she writes.

ESWN picks up on a post on the on the Chinese-language Tianya discussion forum, which says the most recent Nike advertisement hurts the feelings of the Chinese people. Many commentators appear to think this view is that of a rather sad person, however.

The Limey posts a detailed report on a meeting convened to discuss how to make the Bermudian politican system more democratic. Christian S. Dunleavy links to the Limey's post, adding that the meeting was “poorly advertised, badly scheduled and hence lightly attended”.

seserak at From Cambodia to Japan gives us a primer on sorcery in Cambodia.

A Worm's Perspective discusses Malaysia's campaign to rid national language Bahasa Malaysia of foreign loanwords.

In Malaysia, the title of Datuk is supposedly awarded to outstanding citizens. Kenny Sia ponders the mystery of who gets them.

Singapore Election Watch asks if the country's normally astute government investment agency Temasek Holdings made a misstep when it bought a large chunk of Thai PM Thaksin Shinawatra's Shin Corp.

Bangkok Pundit evaluates the various interpretations, in the currently polarized political atmosphere in Thailand, made of a decision to replay King Bhumibol Adulyadej's 1992 reconciliation message to rival political parties.

Danwei compares two recent China cover stories about potential threats to the status quo. Newsweek's cover is entitled “Beijing vs. the Bloggers”, while Time focuses on rural unrest.

Rounding up this year's National People's Congress (NPC), China Confidential says that while it's not democratic, it is far more than a “rubber stamp”, providing a window into the fears and concerns of the ruling Communist Party. Summing up the military's fears, s/he says: “It is one thing to mow down out-of-control students and intellectuals in Beijing, many of whom are anyhow seen by army types as belonging to a historically privileged bureaucratic class, and something else entirely to crush a widespread rural rebellion. This is the specter–the ghost of Mao and the awesome power that he unleashed, one could say– that haunts the Great Hall of the People (where the NPC convenes each year) and secretly terrifies all of China.”

Kids Doc in Jos explains some of the issues around antiretroviral (ARV) drug regimes - the need to take every dose as missing one will have a critical effect and how the virus operates. He also reports on the progress of baby Paul who has been on an antiretroviral (ARV) program for 18 months. He was doing very well but now he is sick again.

Naijablog posts an interview he had with “emerging hip-hop talent/producer FML (aka Blaise) on Lagos Live.”

This is Zimbabwe discusses the role of NGOs in Zimbabwe and questions whether they can contribute to bringing about an end to Zimbabwe's crisis.

EthioBlog reports that an Ethiopian jounalist has been sentenced to one year in prison for writing “false news”. Meanwhile another journalist, pregnant Internet journalist Frezer Negash was freed from custody.

Benn Loxo du Taccu has a roundup of African music concerts in France with links to the bands and reviews.

Yebo Gogo comments on press freedom or rather lack of it in Africa. The problem is not just in Kenya, recently a Canadian journalist was expelled from Uganda and in Nigeria a journalist critical of the President is now in hiding.

Mzansi Afrika asks “Whose side is God on” commenting that everyone is asking for favours from God even those on opposing sides. “If there's a God out there or up there, He is probably not on the side of rich folks who sit on poor folks. He's probably unhappy at folks who kill others in his name. He's probably wagging his finger at those who go against the grain of goodness that is inherent in human beings.”

Coalition for Darfur points to a report on peace talks between warring parties taking place in Abuja Nigeria. The AU mediator stated “If any party refuses to sign the enhanced humanitarian ceasefire agreement, we will have no option but to conclude that it is not interested in peace and the wellbeing of the people of Darfur,” Salim said.”

White African posts an idea of his for web technology in Africa “that could change the way Africans communicate, trade and interact with each other and the world.”