Global Voices Online

Peter of neweurasia discusses the start of construction on the enormous new Saudi embassy in Turkmenistan. Many Turkmen officials were on hand for the laying of foundation stone, and Peter argues that this enthusiasm likely has to do with Turkmenistan concluding that the international legitimacy it seeks will most likely come from Islamic states.

Yulia translates a Russian post on how Kyrgyzstan is dealing with terror threats.

Go Kyrgyz! writes about how chess came to Kyrgyzstan and the enthusiasm for the game today.

A Jamaica-born Muslim cleric who has been convicted in the UK for incitement to murder is about to be deported back to his homeland. “As if our gun-toting criminals aren't enough, now we have to worry about terrorist threats because we'll have our own soon to arrive, fresh from England, in-house terrorist,” says Gela.

Nanopolitan on the recent move in Kerala on promoting open source and Linux in public institutions and how the issue is being fused with a rather disconnected one of the ban on Coke and Pepsi in the state.

Is Trinidad and Tobago's opposition party trying to self-destruct? Jeremy Taylor thinks so.

Christian S. Dunleavy congratulates an old schoolfriend on his decision to repay the scholarship funds granted him a decade ago; and questions the Bermuda government's decision to pave over a piece of parkland to create a location for a hospital.

A pair of travellers responds to the Belize Jungle Dome Adventure Travel and Vacation blog's request for travel tips.

Sidney flashes forward to 2012, after the Bahamas' government has implemented the National Health Plan towards which they are “proceeding with undue haste.”

Riffing off of Thomas Friedman's bestseller, The Earth is Flat, Larry Smith discusses the Bahamas' unpreparedness for participation in the current and future world order.

30 in 2005 on the phenomenon of more Indian tourists in the UK. “And these are not just salwar kameez and saree aunties who have come to look after their children/ grand-children. These are bona fide tourists. Backpacks, cameras and sneakers. All the way from India.”

Tee Emm's Window to Pakistan on internet governance in the country.

Perspectives on the current domestic crisis in Pakistan at Metroblogging Lahore. “While I mourn Bugti's death as a Pakistani, I do believe Bugti was a misguided man. He allowed himself to be used by nefarious foreign elements as a pawn against the good of this nation. “

Mezba has a list of Bangladeshi bloggers in the Greater Toronto Area. “I thought it would be a nice time to introduce some of the blog talent that I know of. Here, in no particular order, are a few Bengali-Canadian blogs. A few I know personally, others through their blogs.”

Mark in Mexico, awoken by gunshots this morning in Oaxaca, has an update on the standoff, including a link to an interesting satellite map by Reforma.

Boz's analysis of what he calls Lopez Obrador's “shadow government”.

Rosario Lizana and Atina Chile (ES) won't let readers forget about the Campaign for Broadband, which hopes to convince internet service providers to be more honest about the speed of their connection rates and what actually constitutes “broadband.”

Miguel Octavio, Daniel Duquenal, Feathers McGraw, Katy, and Publius Pundit on the expropriation of two Caracas golf courses by Mayor Juan Barreto. EGG says (ES), “while at least I never liked golf,” though he remembers that Che Guevara did.

Robert Wright has a fascinating reflection on the history of utility companies in Buenos Aires: “Wouldn’t it be great to see 3-D city maps (á la Google Earth) based on each particular utility? Eliminate everything but electric lines & take a look. Or just see gas lines. Or only water conduits. We regularly see topographic maps, so why not infrastructure maps?”

Dan Perlman on drag shows in Buenos Aires: “Unfortunately, Buenos Aires’ gay scene, entertainment-wise, seems trapped in the late ’70s/early ’80s, at least from a New York perspective. Drag shows are the thing, and often, the exact same drag show, week in and week out.” Read on to discover the exception.

Dictionary of the Serbian Mess explains the coat of arms that appears on the Serbian flag and compares Serbian anthem to that of Slovenia.

Belgrade Blog writes about the threat to the capital's nightlife.

Belgrade Blog reports on the 4th Belgrade Beer Festival, which featured 30 types of beer, a treasure hunt and a Miss Wet T-Shirt competition.

Moscow has more billionaires than NYC, but in Putin's era, they are no longer “oligarchs” but “mere tycoons,” writes Vilhelm Konnander. In another post, he discusses the trial and the verdict of Ukraine's Pavlo Lazarenko.

Poland is having local elections soon, and the populists are becoming more audible, reports Warsaw Station.

The beatroot writes about “free movement of labour” and responds to a “deranged” commenter who, among other things, is “favorably comparing the Nazi invasion and the Holocaust to the influx of a few hundred thousand Poles and others to the UK.”

The beatroot writes that Polish gay rights activists are taking the wrong cases to court: “But going to courts over the two pieces of infantile nonsense […] is not the right way to go about challenging officially sponsored homophobia in Poland.”

Konstantin Dlutskiy of Russian Marketing Blog writes about the needless promotion of Madonna's upcoming Moscow concert.

Peter Myers of Adventures in Moldova writes about themes in Moldovan folk music. WorkingDefinition writes about the “inescapable” music in Romania.

For two hearts in love no price is too much to pay and no gift is too expensive to give. Perhaps, this could be taken to the extreme, where roses are swapped for crawling creatures, all in the name of love. You Missed This EXTRA captures a Romeo’s mood as he handed a gift of poisonous snake to his unsuspecting Juliet, “His parting remarks were even more bizarre. Without revealing what the gift was he asked her to come back for a “red one” if she was not satisfied with quality of the “black one” inside the box.”

How often do you use microwave? Is it very often, sometimes or hardly? If you hardly do and think it’s harmful, then you need to read Sotho’s piece. His family members avoid it because they feel it’s capable of contaminating food. But he is unconvinced and he writes, “Since the waves that hit the chicken are instantly converted to heat energy inside the chicken, there can be no question of radioactive contamination. In other words, when you switch your oven off and remove your chicken, it has absolutely no radiation on it.”

Mike Golby, a South African blogger, struggles to understand the situation in Cape Town, where, as cosmopolitan as it seems, refugees find it difficult if not entirely impossible to integrate fully. For the Somali refugees, as he particularly notes, it’s hell on earth. “That they might be, but it seems we offer them no refuge. Accorded refugee status if not deported to the charnel houses they’ve fled, they’re not allowed South African citizenship. Children born to refugees remain refugees,” he laments.

Looking for something unique to wear this mid week up to the weekend? Bella Naija offers something to make you stand out in any crowd. She’s always wanted to be different and her high sense of imagination brings this to your blogstep. She has this to say as she proudly pats herself on the back, “I luv to feature budding designers who are fab but not necessarily well-known by most Nigerians and other African…Here’s another budding designer that adds to your fashion repertoire.”

Recently, floods unleashed havoc in northern Burkina Faso, rendering thousands of people homeless in Gorom-Gorom. A missionary blogger, Keith Smith who’s been working for over a decade among Fulanis in the arid region, quickly mobilised support for the victims. He now gives an update of the effort that was to successfully forestall humanitarian disaster and says, “our first food aid distribution was completed on Friday, and was a success, thanks to the hard work, forethought, and effectiveness of our team on the ground.”

Aknoun says that one year ago, the cultural advisor to the Iranian President said everybody is free to have a satellite dish and government will reduce pressure on people [Fa]. The blogger says that now we shall see how government cracks down on satellite dishes.

Lahzeh says rising housing prices is a hot topic in Iran and everybody has an opinion about it. The blogger says that according to the Iranian President, the price rose between 20 and 30 percent, while the Head of Social Commission in Parliament talks about 25 percent and the head of a private construction association says 40 percent. The blogger says the Minister of Housing called all of these figures lies and said the percentage is actually 13.7 percent, and if somebody has another figure, that person should prove his/her claim! The blogger adds that this confusion is due to the absence of a reliable statistics institution in the country [Fa].

According to Kuy, another student activist, Jamal ZaherPour was arrested a couple of days ago [Fa]. ZaherPour had been a leading student in Islamic Association of Khajeh Nasir University where he graduated as an engineer. The blogger adds that recently, several student activists have been arrested.

The blogger at Our Local Style looks at the problem of stray dogs in Brunei and suggest a solution. “It’s also unfair to punish the animals for what I perceive to be our own crimes. These strays didn’t just pop out of thin air. Where did they come from? Abandoned pets perhaps? Owners who would not (or perhaps could not for a want of proper facilities) spay their pets?”

The Cuban news daily Granma reports that a Syrian ministerial delegation has been received in Cuba by Raul Castro — and Luis M. Garcia (and, presumably, other watchers of the Castro regime) try to figure out what it means: “We are a sad, pathetic bunch, I know … A bit like those old Kremlinologists of the recent past. . . . They would minutely inspect every statement and photograph emanating from the once impenetrable Soviet propaganda machine hunting for clues about what was really going on behind the Kremlin walls. Most were so busy reading between the lines they almost missed the spectacular collapse of the entire edifice.“

Ketsugi is excited about the upcoming nationwide wireless internet service in Singapore.

Malaysian politician Lim Kit Siang talks about pressing issues that Malaysia is facing this National Day(31 August).

Cho Jun Sang, president of the labour union of the South Korean newspaper ‘Hankyoreh' talks about the background and concern of South Korea media workers union in Asia Media Forum.

Lee in Tokyo Times shows the statistic of sex life in Asia countries and reconfirms the social phenomena of sexless marriage in Japan.

Joel Martinsen in DANWEI gathers some different (sympathetic) views on Foxconn's court case against mainland journalists.

ESWN analyses the case from a PR war point of view. Imaginethief writes a very long post explaining Foxconn's rationality, and how its failure in PR has risk its relation with foreign customers.

Chiao blogs his eat-eat-talk-talk conversation with Jimmy Wales and briefly discusses about future development of the very young wiki community in Hong Kong.

Indonesia anonymus relates a co-worker's experience on a visit to a doctor. The post talks about certain doctors favouring pharmaceutical companies sometimes at the expense of the patients.

Patrick of the Guatemala Solidarity Network gives more context to the reported shooting of Radio 10 host Vinicio Aguilar Mancilla.