Global Voices Online

Trinidadian blogger Strongy reports briefly on the progress of the designs for the children's Carnival band his group has been doing for 14 years, and posts some photos of costumes from the band that inspired the one currently being designed.

For the Jamaican blogger BassChocolate, watching — and laughing at — the film Borat raises some conflicting issues: “Many Jamaicans are offended with Americans portray us as Weed Orgy Central. How would we feel if we were portrayed in a major motion picture as a country which condoned rape and incest? Not so good. Is character ‘Borat' crossing the line?”

Bicyclemark has a podcast with Amanda of ChistianAid, a relief organization working in Tajikistan.

Yulia of neweurasia reports on a killer on the loose in Bishkek.

Kyrgyz Report notes that Kyrgyzstan's new constitution has yet to be seen.

Ben Paarmann reports on the drive of some Kazakh companies to Western stock exchanges and some of the positive benefits this will usher in.

Dan O'Huiginn says that Georgia's criticism of the Commonwealth of Independent States is a deescalation of its conflict with Russia rather than an escalation as has been reported by some media outlets.

Owen links to a Jamaican parody from YouTube of the MTV program “Cribs”.

Puerto Rican blogger GuerillaPop unveils (ES) the true story behind the famous bolero “Bodas Negras”: “Bodas Negras (o Boda Negra, as it is also called), which touches on the subject of necrophilia, is an excellent example of how the Latin American bolero can kick the butts of some goth or death metal bands.”

The Limey questions whether the introduction of a new fast ferry in Bermuda has genuinely improved the public transportation system.

The definition of state secrets is so vague in China. Absurbfool tries to dig out some on web.

Jeremy Goldkorn at DANWEI writes a brief history melodies and tunes travelling from China to Europe.

Imaginethief talks about the impact of “strike hard at stray dogs” policy on his neigbors.

JP on Japundit blogs a recent world record set up by elementary school students in Hiroshima: creating the world’s largest paper airplane and flying it.

Citizen reporter, Hisane Masaki, at Ohmynews has an article on the development of oil dispute between Japan and China in East China Sea.

Jamie at interlocals.net has written an article on the recent massive labour strike with a video explaining the labour condition of South Korea from the labour union perspective in the past 10 years.

Itching for Eestimaa writes about “the Bronze Soldier disease” that “has spread from Tallinn to Moscow, where officials and analysts are now weighing in on the issue like it would make a big difference in their life whether the Bronze Soldier was there or not.”

Foreign Notes writes about crime in Western Ukraine.

Carpetblogger shares two efficient ways to get the attention of a waitress in Kyiv.

The Turkish Invasion explains the difference between russkiye and rossiyane.

Russia Blog lists some facts on Russia's coal industry.

Copydude writes about night life in Novgorod: “Novgorod Russians appear to start out on vodka and then sober up with beer and wine.”

Hipocratico laments the fact that most Spanish-speaking internet users have adopted English language acronyms: “some very popular bloggers use ‘WTF' to say ‘que onde con esto,' or ‘what's up with this.'

Panamanian Jorge Arango gives his impressions of the Chile Information Architecture Retreat and discusses the state of the profession in Latin America. Leon Kadoch, meanwhile, applauds Arango's thoughts on “Casual Information Architecture.”

Ballistics tests examining the murder of American journalist Bradley Will suggest a story line of Hollywood proportions. Says Mark in Mexico: “According to Lizbeth Caña, the Oaxaca State Attorney General, and 2 reporters from Reforma, Daniel Pensamiento y Virgilio Sánchez, it is now believed that Bradley Will was shot first by someone standing very close and slightly above him, and then shot a second time, while still alive, at point-blank range some 15-20 minutes later. Both bullets were 9mm.” Rodrigo Javier explains [ES] how Lizbeth Caña Cadeza followed the investigations of Milenio [ES] to come to the conclusion that Will was killed by friendly fire to “internationalize the conflict.” An article by Carlos Vigueras, posted at IndyMedia, however, argues that “the government of Mexico presented results of the investigations made into the murder of our companion Brad that try to blame members of the Popular Assembly of the People of Oaxaca as those who assassinated Brad.”

Asian Adventures on uniformity and the rise of individual expression in Bhutan. “A quiet revolution - not in the sense of anti-nationalist sentiment, but in the sense of a greater acceptance of individual thought - has been sweeping Bhutan since the mid-90s, and its pace is accelerating, especially as the nation makes its first steps towards democracy.”

The Greatbong points to the gender bias in the new Law dealing with domestic violence. The law appears to assume that all victims are female and all perpetrators are male. “That is, I presume (and I am no legal expert) that the gender of the victim and the perpetrator of domestic violence has been hard-coded into the law. The title of the law also makes it pretty clear—it concerns itself only with the protection of women (a fact that is repeated a few times in the document in different contexts..”

Ricardo Carreón measures the pulse of Mexico City and shows how it has changed over the years.

Even as peace progresses in Nepal, what of the Maoist forces? United We Blog! has Photos from A Maoist Cantonment Site. “The tripartite team (consisting representatives of the Nepal government, the UN and the CPN Maoist) inspects a Maoist proposed rebel cantonment site in Surkhet.”

All Things Pakistan looks at the controversy surrounding the politics of the Women Rights Bill which would drastically change the rape laws in the country. However, the post cautions “It is clear that the major proponents of change in laws believe that too many political compromises have been made by the government.”

jamalsadik.com on the Hudood Ordinance - the rape law that antagonized rape victims, and the repealing of this act in Pakistan. “Well it only took them about 30 years, but the Pakistani Government finally had enough with this nonsense. Perhaps Musharraf was getting embarrassed when it would come up over cocktails with other world leaders.”

Pixel y Dixel describes the process used by Scott Howard [ES] to produce a mega 1.5 gigapixel zoomable photograph of Machu Picchu.

“Around 11pm on Sunday night, November 5th, responding to a phone call by a passer-by, police inves- tigators in Bogota found two men sitting on the steps outside the Lourdes Church in Bogota. One of the men had an arm around the other man's shoulder. Neither man was alive.” So begins Andres Duque in a post that looks into possible explanations for the men's death and analyzes how the Colombian media reported the story.

Technology forum Slashdot is debating a statement by Thailand's IT minister who in a about turn from the previous administration's favourable attitude to the open source software, called the movement “full of bugs and useless”.

Ms. Vakaivosavosa in Fiji has a post on rioting that took place in Nukualofa, the Tongan capital city earlier today. The rioteers were angry at the lack of democratic reforms and they targetted the prime minister's family business. The blogger writes that the riots must be seen as a warning sign in neighbouring Fiji. “This explosion of anger in Tonga where representation in parliament and cabinet is reserved for certain bloodlines is a warning to Fiji where life gets harder everyday while the elite visibly get richer and do not seem to notice the discontent and hunger around them.”

Nyasha Laing posts a video interview with Belizean Garifuna activist Emeni Cayetano of community broadcasters Dangriga Cablevision and Hamalali Radio.

“Don’t come to Guyana for the nightlife. Come for the wild life,” says Guyana-Gyal, as she and her brother reminisce about encounters with wild hogs.

The Manicou decides that the priorities of the Trinidad and Tobago government are equally as misplaced as the people who “does be fighting other people for 10 days, but dem have the latest Jordans and all kinna brands your working ass can't afford to try on”, and also as the man who asks him to borrow $10 to finance what may be a beer habit.