Global Voices Online

As he works on his second novel, Jamaican writer Marlon James ponders the obstacles the US publishing establishment puts in the way of writers like himself, but concludes that “I have to hold to the belief that book and reader have an almost cosmic destiny to meet. And when they do, no barrier whether it be language, race, culture or nationality will stand in the way.”

Barbados Free Press is all for the revitalisation of the Landship, Barbados's “navy that never goes to sea.”

Aventuras de un Webmaster points readers (ES) to Nicaragua y algo más (ES), an aggregator of news articles and blog posts about Nicaragua.

Raúl Ramírez, noting the mushrooming of “metropolitan blogs” in Mexico City, announces the alliance (ES) between Chilanga Banda (ES) and Guía de la Ciudad de México (ES).

After visiting writer Gabriel García Márquez' hometown of Aracataca, Sagroncito tries to separate perception and reality regarding Colombia.

Jim Shultz tries to explain the waning interest in Bolivia's soon-to-be-formed Constituent Assembly. In a comment, Miguel Centallas responds “Why is the campaign lackluster? Um, you do realize the World Cup is going on, right? That's pretty much trumping all other considerations in much of the world right now. It's just lucky the vote comes on a day w/o tournament matches.”

No one knows how to commemorate themselves quite like bloggers. Tomorrow, Eduardo Arcos notes, is the third annual International Blogger Day, which will be celebrated with a meetup in Mexico City (ES).

Florida-based Jamaican writer Geoffrey Philp discusses some of the ideas he plans to incorporate into his presentation for the “Imagine Miami” lecture series, which addresses issues of identity. Among the things he plans touch upon are “a reflection on Miami’s geographical location as a port/frontier city and as a Latin/Hispanic/Caribbean city in North America (Kingston 21, Havana North)” and questions of race and colour.

Echoing the request traditionally given before the national anthem is played, Elspeth Duncan gives the latest video entry on her blog the title “Please Stand. . . . for something”. The video compiles footage from “various protests taking place in Trinidad between late 2005 and early 2006. It represents the collective voice of the people at a time when the republic of Trinidad & Tobago is going through crisis and experiencing transformation on many levels.”

As part of a larger policy towards advertising and health, Legal News from Nepal says that the Supreme Court is “Ordering the government to create public awareness on the harmful effects of tobacco use, the SC also asked the government to formulate an appropriate law on smoking.”

foto morgana has a photo-essay on the Bonda people of Orissa in India.

Akshay has photographs and a writeup on The Nagin Lake in Kashmir. “he Nagin lake is a peaceful cleaner smaller cousin of the Dall Lake in Srinagar is an unforgettable experience - is not only extremely relaxing but offers a close look at the almost amphibian life of the Hanjis, the boat people. The once floating gardens, approachable only by boat, are now rooted to one mace and only grow vegetables but still remain divided into islands by cries-crossing currents.”

Marrying someone in the diaspora? Mezba reflecting on what his uncle tells him about girls in Canada and Bangladesh. “Apparently, if I marry some girl who has been brought up in Canada or is living somewhere in the West, she would a) not cook for me b) not respect me at all as all girls living here are beyaadober haadi ('bone' of rudeness) c) will have had previous relationships and d) will never care for my parents.”

Sadiq does a review on a book about Jesus. “Couple of days back i went to visit the British Museum at London. While coming out i went to its bookshop where i came across a book very unexpectedly that validates a lot of the events in the holy life of Jesus Christ, which i was posting for last few weeks. And the validation comes from Secret Gospels and from the own speech of Jesus Christ. The name of this wonderful book is, “Jesus: The Unauthorised version” .”

In a series of posts on the culture of business in India, Dina sums up the attitude towards rules and regulations.

Photography in the UAE is always a problem; you have to be respectful to other people given the culture and privacy enjoyed by most people in the UAE. Anyone with enough ignorance can land themselves in trouble quite easily by not asking permission, but even when you HAVE the permission, you rarely HAVE the permission.

Bahrain used to be a collection of islands, each surrounded - obviously - by water. That virtually stopped when the King Fahad Causeway opened, and now it is further strengthened by the signing of the agreements to construct another causeway, this time between Bahrain and Qatar, Mahmood said.

The anti-Zarqawi-lovers sentiment is getting stronger in the region, especially in Iraq and Jordan where Zarqawi and his gangs committed their worst crimes, Omar said.

Onnik Krikorian reports on Habitat for Humanity's work in Armenia.

Onnik Krikorian shines light on the dark side of Yerevan's cafes.

Since Tajikistan's presidential election probably will not be free, James of neweurasia has a rundown of each political party's platform and has a poll to vote for who readers think should win.

Myrthe of Life As I See It writes about last bell–the last day of school–in Armenia.

Leila writes about modern art in Kazakhstan and a UK television show featuring some of it.

Does public broadcasting have a place in Kyrgyzstan? neweurasia discusses.

Yulia of neweurasia rounds up the week in news in Kyrgyzstan.

“Congratulations, North Korea!” blogs Robert J. Koehler at The Marmot's Hole in response to news that North Korea will soon test-fire a missile capable of striking America. “Soon, you might have the capability to ensure the Americans turn South Korea into an island in the event of an emergency. And you still can't eat plutonium.”

Danny Bloom at Japundit hosts a quick but thorough discussion on the division over simplified Chinese characters (mainland China) and traditional characters (Hong Kong, Taiwan, Chinatowns worldwide): “What’s your take on all this? Will China's system take over, and if it does, will it have an impact on Japan's writing system?”

An internet beauty queen has been chosen, writes Tokyo Times‘ Lee, from 5,500 entries: “[I]n a bid to make sure that the victor didn’t turn out to be a balding and bearded middle-aged man living with his parents and known online as Judith, the organizers asked the 20 best contestants—chosen by internet voting—to appear in person for the final judgment.”

A seldom-heard stance on China's tough university entrance exams (Gao Kao) from Raymond Zhou at Not only movies just days after the testing period ended: “It may sound paradoxical, but I'm not for abolishing the gaokao system. For all its quirks and partiality, it is one of the few mechanisms of meritocracy that we have. And they are improving on it. For example, unconventional essays for the writing part of the language test no longer fall through cracks automatically. Some are even commended for originality. And now, even the topics are open-ended.”

Outside In blogger and old China hand Jo turned on the nightly communist news early last week and was surprised to see two new faces reading the news: “I thought maybe a wrinkle had occurred in the universe. In the universe of the party propaganda machinery, I guess it had. They were smiling. They were perky. They actually looked at the camera. Unfortunately, the content was the same old same old.”

Arms trading, Tibet, environmental concerns, Chinese president Hu Jintao's recent meeting with American counterpart Bush and Google executive Sergey Brin admitting to censoring search results in China all in Celia's weekly roundup at China Activist Weekly.

Tobias Ljungvall reports on a conflict between members of Perspektiva, an organization uniting Belarusian market traders: “This organisation was created on a wave of successfully organised strikes among market traders, in which tens of thousands or perhaps even more than a hundred thousand of them had temporarily closed down their businesses in protest against the regime's policies. The market traders, engaging in small-scale imports from neighbouring countries and not-so-neighbouring countries (as Turkey for instance) and selling their goods at wide outdoor areas packed with their stands, had arose as the only politically active group in Belarusian society.”

Paul of Further Ramblings of a N.Irish Magyar writes that the mayor of Budapest has decided “to force bakery operators out of the metro stations,” a rather irrational and potentially unpopular step ahead of the October municipal elections.

TOL's Belarus Blog reports on the case of four young NGO leaders who are facing from six months to three years in prison for running an unregistered organization.

Just Thots of a Naijaman has a rant against President Obasanjo's party, the PDP which he describes as “People Deceiving Party”…….”The president and VP are abusing each other, Sen Ahmadu Ali is abusing the senators, honorables and representatives are abusing each other, the South-south leaders are abusing Gov. Kure, Gov Kure is abusing the South South and blaming it on being misquoted.”

Sudan Watch points to a rare interview with “Sheik Musa Hilal, leader of Um Jalul tribe in his hometown of Mistariha, Darfur (Lydia Polgreen)”

Grandiose Parlor reports on a project to support Nigerian women entrepeneurs - the Access Bank of Nigeria together with the World Bank - International Finance Corporation (IFC)- will start extending lines of credit to this group of women.

MentalAcrobatics comments on a story of violence in a Kenya school where a group of students had badly injured a fellow student in a “brutal sexual assult”.…..The teenage boy, a student at Upper Hill Secondary School, was admitted to Nairobi Women’s Hospital after he was brutally sodomised by five fellow students on a Saturday two weeks ago.

Magaidi comments on the Armenian brothers saga which continues in Kenya. He predicts a big hue and cry by the government, coverage by blogs but in the end “The government won’t do anything concrete (except for the ‘formation of a commision of inquiry and suspension of irrelevant people’) and we will forget about it and move on.”

Weichegud!ET Politics comments on the campaign to return Ethiopia’s looted obelisk . She comments that nearly one year after its return the obelisk lies forgotten still packed in the three boxes it arrived in (the obelisk was split into three to make transportation from Italy easier).

Ethiopian Life reports that local councillor, Mulunesh Abebayehu, who has been detained for 7 months has now been released by the Government following a two week hunger strike.

Blogswana reports that African internet penetration has reached 5% up from 2.6% in 2005.

TOL's Belarus Blog reports on a “political deal between Belarus and no less controversial Iran”: a Belarusian car factory that used to assemble Fords will now make Samand, a brand of “Iran Khodro” company.

Andrei Khrapavitski writes about young Belarusian opposition activists on a hunger strike that has gone practically unnoticed inside the country.

J. Otto Pohl writes about the Mennonites in the Russian Empire and the USSR: a neglected, little-known - and persecuted - minority.

Hojreh, blogger & cleric, says that Arab countries should clearly take position concerning Zarqawi. The blogger considers Zarqawi
main responsible of the death of hundreds of Shiites in Iraq including many Iranian pilgrims. Hojreh adds unfortunately no Arab country has condemned this criminal, Zarqawi (Persian).

Did a Taiwanese underground radio station just call for the assassination of the island's Kuomintang leader and possible future presidential candidate Ma Ying-jeou? Blogging from EastSouthWestNorth's Roland Soong suggests this is unlikely [#036], but a post from The View from Taiwan's Michael Turton shows that thoughts of political assassinations are more common there than one would think.