Global Voices Online

Responding to the pervasive worry that Evo Morales is trying to change the constitution in order to stay in power, Eduardo Ávila responds that while “some of the social movements and other MAS congressmen have publicly come out in favor of changing the Constitution so that a president can be reelected for a consecutive term … Vice-President Alvaro Garcia Linera and the offical MAS stance does not support this proposal.”

The blog of “El Salvador/CNY Companion Diocese” reports that there were twenty two murders in El Salvador just on Sunday and Monday of this week. “The government claims to have deterred violence in many different locations. The numbers don't support their assertion.” Tim Muth posts an excerpt of the IMF's most recent report on the state of El Salvador's economy.

Oil Wars recommends an article in the Washington Post about Venezuela's new, free Bolivarian University. Both Daniel Duquenal and Miguel Octavio say that the Venezuelan National Guard illegally raided University of Los Andes.

Liz Henry introduces the Argentine feminist blog Pescado Rabioso [ES].

Commenting on an incredible story found in Colombia's daily paper El Tiempo Boz asks “What sort of country is that child being born into? There are reasons for both hope and despair within that story.”

Notre vie a Noumea explains that although today was a holiday in New Caledonia, she did not take the day off. You see (Fr) “In New Caledonia, holidays are not necessarily days off. The employer can ask employees to come to work anyway. Every industry has 6 to 7 days off a year.” The blogger implies that this system departs from the metropolitan French way of handling holidays.

Le Blog de [Moi] on Stephane Pocrain's candidacy for the 2007 French Presidential Election (Fr): “Yet another candidacy from the left. Ex- Green Party spokesperson and founding member of the Representative Council of Black Associations of France (CRAN), Stephane Pocrain enters the dance. His program? First and foremost, equality and training for youth.”

“No Sarkozy! Immigration does not come from a vacuum,” says (Fr) Semett in a post on French interior minister Nicolas Sarkozy's immigration policies. “With centuries of merciless exploitation of subsaharan countries and a continuous transfer of their riches to the North, it is logical that the disinherited masses from Africa turn to Europe to recapture their goods (…) The colonization of Europe is imminent.”

London rapper M.I.A who is of Sri Lankan origin, and sprinkles her lyrics with quite a few political statements has been denied a visa by the US. Moju on why this could be and what it implies for making political statements about the LTTE.

The Da Vinci Code has been banned in Sri Lanka. Deane's Dimension on the issue - “On a more personal note, I, myself being a practicing catholic don’t think anything depicted in the movie (or the book) will change my prospective on the religion I was brought up on. The fact that Jesus could have been married and had children with Mary Magdalene is irrelevant to the philosophy of Christianity I believe in.”

Onnik Krikorian says that momentum for peace between Azerbaijan and Armenia over Karabakh continues.

Students in Kyrgyzstan write about citizenship and civility.

Luke Distelhorst reports on the walkout from parliament of Mongolia's Democratic Party over the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party efforts to delay by-elections for a seat formerly held by a Democratic Party member.

Kyrgyz students call for their country not to join the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative.

An update on the textile workers strike in Bangladesh, along with a recommended letter to the Bangladesh Ambassador or High Commissioner in your country at imperfect world 2006.

Chris of For Optimists and Philosophers writes about mining issues in Mongolia.

The Nanopolitan wonders why caste is not included in the demographic data collected for the Indian census. “In a caste-agnostic India, ‘caste' would just be another dimension of one's identity, without any connotations of hierarchy.”

How does one place sexuality within the larger framework of faith? Morofilm points to a film ‘Name of Allah' which “With unprecedented access and depth, gay Muslim filmmaker Parvez Sharma brings to light the hidden lives of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Muslims and goes where the silence has been loudest in countries such as Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, Egypt and Bangladesh, as well as in Turkey, France, India, South Africa, the United States, and the United Kingdom.”

He's afraid of blighting them with his positive words, but Jeremy Taylor at the Caribbean Beat Blog has been more than pleased to see the West Indies cricket team show some of their old mettle in their recent encounters with India: “. . . in the last week some real fight has emerged. If the WI can win the one-day series against India in Trinidad this weekend (Friday and Sunday), it will be a big boost for them. But if they can get some of the old Caribbean style and spirit back into their game on a consistent basis, especially in the Test series that follows, that will be even better.”

Kinuk reports on the Pope's visit to Poland: “Civil servants have been given Friday off, at least in Warsaw. Schools have had to cancel lessons. There is a complete ban on alcohol sales in the whole of Warsaw. Nudie and sexy ads are banned from television. It’s all gone a little bit crazy.”

Paul of Further Ramblings of a N.Irish Magyar writes about the gloomy prospects of Hungarian pension system: “Without mass immigration of workers or a raising of the retirement age, the Hungarian pension system will, in all probability, collapse within the next 15 years.”

LEvko of Foreign Notes writes about the first day of the newly-elected Ukrainian parliament.

After discussing geography with some of the Haitians in his community, Troy, a US missionary working in rural Haiti, concludes — in what is certainly an over-generalization — that “in the Haitian experience, geography seems to consist of Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Miami, New York, Toronto, and Boston - in that order. These are the places flights to/from Haiti travel (and where Haitian immigrants have settled), so therefore they are all that exist. Except for Japan, which produces the best “machines” - as vehicles are called here.” To help his friends gain a better understanding of geography, Troy enlists the help of Google Maps.

Iryna of TOL's Belarus Blog writes about tomorrow's opening of a monument to Felix Dzerzhinsky at the Military Academy in Minsk: “Throughout his 12 years in power, Lukashenka has paid homage to “the best” that the Soviet Union had to offer. He does it to feed the nostalgia for Soviet times which his core supporters—older, less educated, rural voters—feel. That is why the KGB is still called the KGB and the leading state newspaper is still ‘Soviet Belarus'.” Also, Aleksandr Lukashenko has announced his plans to close Belarusian airspace to U.S. and Canadian planes. TOL's Belarus Blog examines what this move might cost Belarus.

“[T]he Net has taken over my life,” decided prominent English-language The View from Taiwan blogger Michael Turton last Sunday, “and I need to regain control. So expect a drastic drop in posting.” The drop didn't last long as there is a long, new post today.

Illegally-imported high-powered motorcycles are one of the latest additions to the arsenal of Jamaica's criminals, says Scratchie: “We tend to find ways to beat the systems here so of course importation rules are no exception. According to last night's news report the bikes are sent in barrels in pieces and then reassembled when they get to their destination. Papers are then “worked up” for them.”

The change of the labor market is one of the subjects China-based blogger-correspondent Fons Tuinstra tracks regularly at China Herald, and a post today looks at a newly-released study which offers, if not new insights, at least a wealth of useful demographics.

Can't avoid it, football fever has hit Hong Kong blogs. In case you have missed it, though, Simon at Simon World just might infect you with his post ‘In Case World Cup Fever Is Transmissible.'

Gil the Jenius defends his right to describe as “cretins” those who consider “El Grito de Lares”, a revolt which took place in 1868, as an important event in the Puerto Rico's movement towards independence.

One of China's hottest English-language blogs TalkTalkChina is now one year old.

The winner of a recent blogger beauty pageant which wrapped up in Beijing earlier this month walked away with $10,000 in prizes and all the fans she could ever want.

“[T]he girls were judged on number of votes they received online, the quality (creativity, originality) of their blog posts, blog traffic and blog comments. Sounds reasonable, writes Virtual China's Lyn Jeffrey. “The top 20 contestants were then brought to Beijing to receive two days of make-overs, photos shoots, and etiquette classes. In the final staged, live competition they were somehow scored on appearance, body (evening wear, swimwear? I don't know) and talent.

They've appeared in Esquire magazine, several television and print ads and one of them's writing a column for the UK Guardian — the media cannot seem to get enough of the Soca Warriors, Trinidad & Tobago's football team. Stacy-Marie Ishmael at the Trinidad & Tobago World Cup Blog rounds up the extra-curricular activities of one of the most mediagenic sides in the 2006 World Cup.

Elspeth Duncan contemplates the charms of Trinidad and Tobago's iconic KC Dinner Mints, known for the “often grammatically challenged love messages” on their wrappers. (Among the messages Elspeth recalls seeing are “A women in love” and “True love never die”). To satisfy her curiosity about the circumstances of their composition, Elspeth telephones the KC factory for more information. . . .

Eric Gordy of East Ethnia writes on what to expect now that the referendum in Montenegro has taken place: “There is the possibility that I may arrive to one country and leave from another. The independence referendum in Montenegro appears to have succeeded, just barely, in one of those underwhelming results that lends itself to multiple interpretations.”

Vilhelm Konnander writes about a diplomatic dispute between Russia and Sweden, and the past and the future of the relationship between the two countries.

As Vladimir Putin promises to increase financial aid to Russia's new mothers in order to change the demographic situation for the better, Scott W. Clark of Foreign Notes points out that in Ukraine, the significantly increased payments have not led to a baby boom.

Yuri Mamchur of Russia Blog writes about a Russian WWII veteran from Voronezh who had been left without his veteran's pension by the local government, until the TV - and Vladimir Putin himself - interfered.

Konstantin Dlutskiy of Russian Marketing Blog writes about a new entertainment for Smolensk residents: they are making bets on whether the guy who put billboads of himself all over town manages to win his wife back this way.

Taran Rampersad reports on a visit to an environmental conference in Trinidad, where he hears some disturbing rumours, and asks a few pointed questions.

David Lee Wilson has translated the manifesto of the PCC, which reads more like a Marxist declaration than a street gang handbook. Indeed, Wilson wonders who the manifesto was written for.

Koranteng's Toli begins part 9 of his “Things Fall Apart” series - here he looks at “social living” in Ghana (Africa) …”I put this entry under the banner of social living is that this theme is something I want to investigate further filtered through the lens of Ghana, Africa, literature, movies, history, technology etc. There is a long tradition of cultural interpretation at work and I've barely scratched the surface. And what are the effective strategies in this debate? Some cultures seem to do better than others, why is that? And what can we learn?”

Nyein Chan Yar's blog points to an article by a veteran Burmese journalist. The article titled “The Burmese People can't wait much longer” urges the “nonaligned intermediaries” that have economic leverage over Myanmar (Russia, China and India) to apply pressure on the ruling regime to loosen its grip on power.

White African has found yet another use of google and maps - this time its a map of Africa that you can click on and get updated news. He also announces the start up of Zangu News - News for Africans

Lavina Live has a new look blog and writes about naming protocols in South Africa

Yosef Ardi at Indonesia Today discusses the reasons for the fall of Indonesian Rupaiah.

Vutha in Cambodia writes about this women's group that is trying get 3G phones banned. The group claims that such phones would harm the morals of the people. “We are all very concerned that bad people will use modern communication and information technology in the wrong direction and it will make a serious negative effect on morality and social welfare.”

tumbleweed in timor lorosae hears gunfire in East Timor and it reminds her of National Day celebrations in her native Singapore. “Instead of feeling terrified, I thought of how this crackling reminds me of joyous occasions. Probably the only time a normal Singaporean (read non-soldier or police) hears or sees this sort of pyrotechnic action is during our National Day Parade when we're treated to a spectacular ear-deafening fireworks show, with colourful patterns exploding into the skies - swirls, bright pinpricks, and even smiley faces. This loud crackling is synonmous with joy and celebration, not fear and anguish as it usually is in other parts of the world.”

Kenyan blogger, Au Lait is one of the few African bloggers to remember today is Africa Day - 25th May 2006.

Bhojman at Meanderings blog is talking about early flooding in Thailand this year.

CompetitiveMalaysia is surprised that Malaysia's electricity rates are higher than Taiwan's. “If such a high cost country in Taiwan able to keep their electricity rate low. There is no reason that Malaysia, a petroleum production country unable to do that.”

Black Star Journal points to a “rare” article in the US media on northern Uganda and on a documentary “Journey into Sunset”

Daphne joined a blogger meet-up last week in Tokyo and learned about a fake blogger association funded by tax revenue from Japanese Government, for the retired officials. Daphne posts a write-up to the “Japan Bloggers” mailing list. Aki also writes about this meet-up.

Kona Bike Town Africa is a new blog that blogs about the progress of a new design of Kona bikes especially made for health workers treating HIV/AIDS patients in Botswana.

MentalAcrobatics comments on the African players and teams that will be participating in this year's World Cup next month…..”My predictions are optimistic. I have two African teams going through to the second round. Most people predict a complete blow out with not a single African team making the knock out stages. Angola v Iran and Tunisia v Saudi Arabia being the only two games Africa has even a small chance of winning.”

Enough is Enough comments on Zimbabwean government's attempts to militarize the country's agricultural sector which he says is failing. He adds that Zimbabweans live in fear but we should not mistake that for passiveness or ignorance.

Congo Girl reports on the arrest of 32 mercenaries reportedly planning to overthrow the government of the DRC.…Some think the whole thing is a joke whilst others believe the arrested were employed by a security company as a cover for the attempted coup.

This is Zimbabwe reports on the arrest of 4 women members of WOZA on Monday by Zimbabwean security forces.