Global Voices Online

Two years of Blogdai sees some congratulatory notes that reflect on blogs and democracy. “Nepali blogs are talking about bloggers daily lives, politics, society and what not. Voices are necessary in democracy. They are more important in a transitional situation like in today's Nepal. “

Chlim01 is concerned about the risk of oil spills on the Mekong river after reading a report that is talking about China using Mekong river to ship oil to its south western province of Yunnan. Mekong river originates in China and flows through Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. The rivers supports millions of people in these countries.

Vutha introduces us to a ten year old girl who sells bracelets to tourists to support her family and her education.

The Daily Brunei Resources blogger finds a list of things that an expatriate likes about Brunei.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez was sworn in on Monday, laying out an ambitious plan to speed up and strengthen his “socialist revolution.” (Video in Spanish here) Daniel Duquenal, however, labels Chavez's “21st Century Socialism” “Rehashed Communism” and looks at what the nationalization of CANTV and Electricidad de Caracas could mean in the future. Miguel Octavio adds, “Today markets plunged in Venezuela and so did the country's democracy.”

Sean Roberts lists reforms proposed by the front-runner to become Turkmenistan's next president. Roberts analyzes why the next president will be under pressure to reform, why he will need engagement from the West, and why the US should support reforms.

Greenhornet.lk on the two problems in Sri Lanka - ethnic and military. “An acquaintance of mine summed it up this way: “If you kill one person, you get to go to jail. If you kill a thousand, you get to go for peace talks”.”

Light Within on Fred Bremner. “He was not a diplomat, historian or a journalist, yet his photographs and publications have become an important source of historic records of the cities, events, places and people in Pakistan.”

Or How I Learned To Stop Worrying on Senator Edward Kennedy and his support for Bangladesh. “His was one of the lonely voices in the United States government that defended the right of the Bengali people to exist. He spoke out against the massacres, the rapes, and the persecution when the Nixon administration chose to look the other way.”

Alan Patrick is back with his fifth installment of the Buenos Aires Blog Roundup including a nod to a Baires blogger-cum-body-waxer who graciously clarifies, “I dont even mind if you ask me to do shapes like hearts and stars in it.” If you'd like to get to know more about Patrick himself, (like the fact that it's not his real last name), check out his five things meme. Following the meme, Global Voices contributor Jorge Gobbi was tagged by both Alan Patrick and Rodrigo. We learn [ES that Gobbi once worked in a supermarket, first studied Anthropology before switching to Communication, and that his first purchased album was “The Head on the door” by The Cure.

Ben Paarmann marks the expiration of the mandate of Uzbekistan's president, Islam Karimov. The funny thing is, he still is in office, and there has been no public mention of coming elections. Ben explains what is going on, and speculates on different ways that the president may extend his time in office.

Highlighting Colombian music released with Creative Commons licenses, Carolina Botero presents the album “Colombitis” [ES] by trio “Colombita.” Also mentioned are “Gaita Negra” and salsa group Calambuco whose songs can be heard on hi5.

Some recent posts commenting on the supposed radical nature of feminism or the behaviour of women have Falstaff asking if it's National Chauvinism Week. Kaleidoglide asks where she can find these fantastic beasts.

KZBlog notes that doctors and officials who made errors leading to the infection of 84 children and 12 women with HIV in the southern Kazakhstani city of Shymkent have been charged with crimes, and that a new report says Kazakhstan has 7,000 HIV case, though the real figure is probably much higher. KZBlog says that the Shymkent case has raised awareness of HIV/AIDS, but that it is not yet clear whether or not it has changed the common belief that those infected with the disease did something wrong.

Onnik Krikorian links to Gavar Special School, a school educating special needs students in Armenia's Gegharkunik Region. He goes on to discuss how blogs are better than static sites for drawing attention to charities and also for improving news websites.

Armenia Blog notes that Richard Hoagland has again been nominated as US ambassador to Armenia. Armenia Blog urges Armenians in the US to oppose Hoagland's nomination because he does not recognize the Armenian genocide.

A rally calling for the resignation of Governor Manfred Reyes Villa turned violent in Cochabamba on Monday, writes Cochabamba resident Jim Shultz, who goes on to detail the political fall out, concluding that the call for Reyes-Villa’s resignation was “a political miscalculation.” Day two resulted in an even larger - though violence free - march. Miguel Buitrago has more analysis, reporting that “the opposition in Santa Cruz with the voice of the State Government, expressed its alarm and warned the government that if such acts would want to be promoted in Santa Cruz, the state government would act against them. Jose Luis Paredes, Prefect of La Paz, also condemned with the same alarm the events in Cochabamba.”

Colin Brayton translates a post from Cesar Maia, ex-mayor of Rio de Janeiro on that funny friendship between politicians and the media.

Caribbean Free Photo posts a photo of the Indira Gandhi Memorial Museum in Delhi, India, and expresses delight at discovering that Trinidad occupies “quite a prominent place” in the museum's collection.

Ampontan explains the process about how the decision of building the first mosque in Kyushu managed to get concensus from the local community. It takes 8 years and the construction involves huge amount of money.

According to Alpar, conservative journal,Islamic Republic, criticised Ahmadinejad's rhetoric on nuclear issues.The blogger says Ahmadinejad's empty slogans has created a lot of unrest in the world[Fa].

Black Star Journal reports about the national strike organized by Guinea's main trade union, “Guinea's main trade union collective, CNTG-USTG, has announced that it will launch an unlimited national general strike starting on Jaunary 10.”

Naijaman challenges Nigeria's latest census figures, “Pray, what kind of census portrays Kano as being more populous than Lagos state? Where cows and goats mistakenly counted? Who are those phantoms in Kano? Where are the seaports, banks, oil companies and various industries that make Lagos the eldorado of the unemployed situated in Kano? Are there groundnut pyramids that we have failed to see?”

The Kenyan blog, Kumekucha: You Missed This, describes Somalia's threat to Kenya's security, “Two events happened late yesterday that clearly sounded warning bells that Kenya is in serious trouble over the Somalia crisis. Firstly President Kibaki cancelled a trip to his native Othaya to chair a security meeting in Nairobi. Then local TV channels gave the Somalia crisis unprecedented prominent coverage in the prime time news slots.”

Gathara's World reacts to US airstrikes in Somalia, “If there was one place where America was helpful by its military absence, Somalia was it. For as long as no American forces were seen to take part in the fighting, the task force off the Somali coast notwithstanding, it would have been difficult for Al-Qaida to turn Somalia into a cause célèbre for jihadists around the world.”

The police decides to charge the single mother heroine, Ho Loy, who has been protesting against the star ferry pier demolition, of possession of weapon (a cutter) and criminal damage (the cutting of cloth surrounding the construction site). inmediahk.net has the most recent update with eyewitness comments (zh).

Xueyong compares the income of famous and best selling writers in U.S and China and finds out that Chinese writers' income is far too low (zh).

Atkins recently won an international competition for the design of a new city for 500,000 people - Songjiang Garden City, on the outskirts of Shanghai. Arranging to Fons in China Herald, part of the design is a resort hotel inside a quarry mind. Shanghaiist has more photos of the hotel design.

Joel Martinsen in DANWEI presents a story that combines the one-child policy debate with the current controversy over the value of traditional Chinese medicine in modern society.

Trinifood wonders whether Caribbean territories could legitimately include certain Chinese dishes part of their national cuisines.

On reading a piece by a well-known business writer designating certain Caribbean brands “brands of the year,” Dominica's Kenny Green concludes: “There are no centers of excellence in Caribbean business. . . . We are struggling for icons and because of this even awards and reviews are lowering their standards to scrape the floor for ‘winners'.”

Babalú Blog wonders whether US anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan, who's visiting Cuba to demonstrate for the closure of the prison at Guantánamo Bay Naval Base, will respond to a call by Cuban pressure groups “Damas de Blanco” to visit a Cuban prison as well. Those leaving comments on the post think it unlikely.