Global Voices Online

Jeremy Taylor at the Caribbean Beat Blog looks forward to seeing what the Caribbean arts festival Carifesta 2006 has in store. “I still remember the excitement of the very first Carifesta in Guyana, in 1972, when it seemed that the whole of Georgetown was taken over by musicians, poets, dancers, actors, painters, singers, artists of every sort from every corner of the region. Nothing quite like it had ever happened before; much of the work was ground-breaking and truly exciting; suddenly we all began to understand what people in other Caribbean countries were thinking and doing, and the buzz of discovery and exchange seemed like the start of a new age.”

When Guyana-gyal meets a widow and her two children at a charity luncheon, her thoughts turn to the plight of women. “So many women, waiting quiet, quiet, for donations. How many got a skill? I wonder if they only aim in life as young girls was to marry, have children. Nobody teach them more. Nobody ever tell them that they husband might leave…either die or walk away.”

Jebratt and Geoffrey Philp remember slain Guyanese teacher, writer and political activist Walter Rodney, on the day of his birthday.

Trinifood visits a Jamaican restaurant in London and treats us to a mouthwatering review.

Oil Wars has a post on the recent settlement between the Venezuelan government and British magnate Lord Vestey who had owned land there, describing it as “the type of news that tends not to get much attention in the opposition controlled media.” Venepoetics ends a literature-infused post by quoting Edmund Wilson: “It is all too easy to idealize a social upheaval which takes place in some other country than one's own.”

Prepping a show featuring writer and performer Tony Hendra, whose daughter once accused him of molesting her sexually, Sweet Trini, who works at a public station in Washington DC, has her “least favourite prep ever. and my least favourite ethical call ever.”

In a post entitled, “Me, a Citizen Journalist?” (ES) Juan Arellano posts a screenshot of a photograph of his which was featured on the Citizen Journalism section of the major daily, El Comercio. Peruvian blogger Juan Carlos Lujan (ES) has been largely responsible for El Comercio's promotion of citizen journalism.

Chemical Generation Singapore thinks that Thai opposition's decision to boycott the coming snap elections is a strategic miscalculation and bad for democracy.

Jove Francisco asks if whether the Philippine press corps' decision to dress “up” or “down” reflects their level of respect for the President.

Burma Underground discusses the hypocrisy of the U.S. government opposing the Myanmar junta while denying thousands of Myanmar refugees resettlement in the U.S. because of purported “material support” to terrorists.

Sarapan Ekonomi worries about a recent survey result that indicate 11% of Indonesians - or 24.2 million people - think terrorist attacks are OK.

Maytel 2020 talks about how Cambodians' gentleness is really a strategy for survival. “Having observed the natural and unassuming bodily gestures of village life I can say undoubtedly that the perception that Khmers and southeast asians in general are all sweetness and light is simply untrue. They are just like everyone else except that being nice is more likely to prolong their life rather than shorten it.”

W. Shedd of The Accidental Russophile links to an article about one of Russia's business success stories: a valenki factory in a small town on the Volga River.

Scott W. Clark of Foreign Notes writes about last week's notorious talk show featuring Russian MP Vladimir Zhirinovsky: “…he was rewarded this morning for his efforts with the honor of being blacklisted for a visa to Ukraine - it was that bad.”

Nancy Case of Case In Point takes her readers on a Kyiv sightseeing tour: “Is there anything cooler than being in a narrow cave with prostrating pilgrims and ancient shriveled dead guys and only one thin candle for light? I didn’t think so.”

Scott W. Clark of Foreign Notes writes about ‘personal touch' in Yulia Tymoshenko's campaign, a quality lacking in Victor Yushchenko's Our Ukraine Bloc's approach.

br23 blog writes about the arrests of the opposition activists and an alarming news - that the number of foreign journalists present at the square has diminished: “And protesters are concerned about it. They view this presence of foreign correspondents as a guarantee that police won’t storm and destroy the camp, arresting everyone, when no one is videotaping the scene.”

Non-violent Resistance lays into U.S. Senators Charles E. Schumer and Lindsey O. Graham, with many a searing epithet from behind the reporter's notebook at a recent news conference in Beijing. “They couldn't remember vice premier Wu Yi's name, whom they had just been meeting half an hour ago, (”one tough lady, she would do well in an American courtroom, I like her a lot” was all they could muster), and two and a half years after raising that sorryass China-bashing bill of theirs, Schumer still couldn't get his pronunciation right,” he fumes.

“The proud new owner will set a blanket out in front of his/her new vehicle. On this blanket will be a smiling pig's head, plates of steamed pork, chopsticks, and bottles of soju. There will also be burning incense,” writes The Asia Pages, on the subject of pagan rituals in South Korea and Kyrgyzstan. Even in Christian South Korea, she discovers, ghosts still walk the streets.

Japundit's Marie writes about the recent rise in popularity of anime and manga (cartoon movies and books) in the United States, sparking a lively discussion in the comments section.

Holidarity reads the cover story of the Chinese edition of Rolling Stone, only to be horrified by the glossing over of the political importance of rocker Cui Jian's music, especially the Eighties anthem Yi Wu Suo You.

Shanghaiist reviews a new phenomenon in Chinese cyberspace; a good food guide called Dianping (ZH). Four stars, but only in the Web site version, which is written by the restaurant-going public. The book, Jay Sheng reports, is rather bland.

Anibal Rossi has posted a video (ES) on Dialógica of an interview with Alejandro Rozitchner (ES) and Julián Gallo (ES) about blogging in Argentina.

Kamilo Klauss (ES) and “Sentido Común” (ES) both have in-depth analysis of last week's elections in Colombia.

feng37 translates the latest post from Zeng Jinyan, wife of AIDS activist Hu Jia, who went missing, believed detained, 36 days ago. Original Chinese post here.

Balancing Life on polio in the subcontinent - “It remains a major problem in 9 countries. What’s common between them all? Extremely high populations living in relatively squalid conditions, in extreme poverty. And the sub-continent, especially India and Bangladesh, remain at the very heart of the disease.”

A recent post on the Freakonomics blog on a 10 year old Indian boy writing in, sparks a post that talks of government schools being uniformly worse than private schools world over, regardless of the country.

imperfect world 2006 on pornography being available near Dhaka's landmark mosque.

Bahas on the human rights issue in Nepal which appears to take turns for the worse, and compares to perilious circumstances elsewhere in the world.

The Organic Brew points to a website that lists cultural events in Lahore -”Our task is to get the widest range of cultural activity registered on the site, and promote the website amid the Lahoris by also offering a cultural picture data base, online forums and discussions on culture and related issues.”

Bankelele posts his thoughts and tips on Kenyan banking and investment with details on each of the country's banking institutions.

Kenyan Pundit comments on the Kenya's current parliament which resumed yesterday which she describes as “Congregation of fools“.

Addis Abba Rocking Fun Zone points to the work of Ethiopian artist, Afwerk Tekle who recently sold a painting for $10 million!

The Beareded man has a series of reports from Zimbabwe ranging from, Air Zimbabwe now charging in US$, weekly inflation, assasination conspiracy and an ex Rhodesian soldier.

Under the Acacias has a report on access to water in rural Burkina Faso..”The lack of a ready source of clean water means either a walk - usually for the women - of several miles to the next pump - which will of course then be twice as crowded.”

Yes.. 500km to the nearest cinema! How painful could that be? Well, it is the sad reality our Saudi friends are suffering from and Amira fully understand why.

Nouri Lumendifi agrees with the Syrian poet Adonis (Ali Akbar Said) and believes that foreign intervention and/or poking and prodding can yield credible results when it comes to furthering democracy in the Arab world. Nouri says, “…there would never have been elections in the Gulf without American agitation. Democracy will never reach the Arabs unless they are aided in some way by foreigners who have already achieved democracy for themselves, because democracy is a foreign concept in Arab society and the nature of much of the current societies in the Arab world is extremely xenophobic and anti-democratic.”

Free Soul asks: “Why can’t we simply accept each other and stop the biasing that blinds our eyes from the truth when we rush to “defend our religion” and on the way we do all possible mistakes and sins thinking we are doing a great job, I hear address my speech to Muslims and Christians equally because what I see is more than a shame, it is crazy and unbearable!!”

The news about the trial of the Afghani Christian convert and the worldwide reaction to it pose an interesting dilemma to Muslims all around the world. Here's something to consider: Open up any Islamic Jurisprudence book, turn the page to the chapter discussing ‘Riddah' (the Arabic word for converting from Islam to another religion), and you will find out that what the court in Afghanistan was contemplating (executing the man) is unanimously approved by all Islamic scholars since the dawn of Islamic history! There is no debate, no need to argue for or against the ruling, and no in-depth analysis since it has never been challenged. It is considered Fact, AT said.

However, AT argue that: “… there's ample evidence in the Quran (which its authenticity is not even debatable by a Muslim) that indicate otherwise! Where's is the truth?”

Barbados is preparing for the possibility of an avian flu outbreak by stockpiling the drug Tamiflu, says Linda Thompkins.

At UDPS Liege, Raphael Doly Tshipamba questions (FR) European journalist Marie-France Cross' assertion that less than 400 attended opposition party UDPS' March 10 and 22 protests. Says Tshipamba: “That is a terrible lie contradicted by AFP and local reports on the one hand and TV5 Monde images on the other.”

For Musengeshi Katata from Forum Realisance (FR) a victory for Joseph Kabila in the upcoming election would only prolong the “rwandanization” of the Congo. The “rwandanization” of the Congo started when Laurent Kabila, Joseph's predecessor and father began hiring rwandan and ugandan mercenaries to keep himself in power, says Katata. If Kabila the son (an adopted Rwandan) is elected Rwandan mercenaries can continue the illegal trafficking of gold and diamonds suggests Katata's post whereas if he is not, “rwandanization” will stop.

Sandro of Kyrgyzstan Students is being bitter about the first anniversary of the ‘Tulip Revolution' whereas Amira over at The Golden Road to Samarqand talked to some students who hold different opinions. Claire of neweurasia also has some details.

An anonymous contributor to neweurasia posts about ever more regulations being enacted that make operating NGOs in Uzbekistan a Sisyphean task.

neweurasia's Mongolia blog commenced posting and among many posts, this one here discusses whether Mongolia should really look into nuclear power as an energy alternative.

Miguel Bitrago writes about last night's explosions in La Paz, which are being called “terrorist attacks”. Eduardo Ávila, with the help of Jonathan Olguin has done some investigating on the two suspects.