Global Voices Online

Somewhat belatedly, the Russian Dilettante shares his opinion of Vladimir Putin's Munich speech: “The problem with Putin's speech is Putin.”

“So I live in a place that is sunny almost every day and I can ride my horses out my gate into the Sahara Desert to visit pyramids and the food is wonderful because it's fresh all year round. So what can I possibly complain about?” writes Egypt-based blogger Maryanne Stroud Gabbani. To learn more about what's bothering her, read this. Among her concerns is: “over the women (mostly seem to be in their 40's or so) who are falling for some smooth chat on the internet with some of our charming Egyptian males (mostly in their 20's or so) and they contact me with ideas of coming to Egypt and marrying this adoring young Adonis.”

Darkness at Noon follows a Lenin look-alike from Lubyanka to Red Square; buys two old Soviet posters of Lenin and listens to what an elderly Russian selling them has to say about an imminent world war; and observes a bunch of “the original Russian democrats” during a speech given by Mikhail Khodorkovsky's lawyer.

“Someone has to give Thomas Friedman an education before he makes the view that Arabs and Muslims are congenitally amoral subhuman hordes completely mainstream,” writes Issandr El Amrani in The Arabist, adding that the man is “becoming dangerous.”

Bahrain-based blogger Bint Battuta spent a cultural evening out - the first left her annoyed but the second refreshed. “A disappointing performance was followed by a frustrating three-quarters of an hour spent trying to get out of the car park, because it seems that unless white lines are painted, people don't have the sense to space out when parking, to leave access,” she adds.

White Sun of the Desert had returned from the Thai resort of Pattaya right before two Russian female tourists were shot to death there.

Bahraini blogger Mahmood Al Yousif is urging his readers to have their belly full of camel piss - a drink he claims is Islamically sanctioned and therapeutic in one go!

Further Ramblings of a N.Irish Magyar quotes from an atypical Budapest city guide.

St. Petersburg’s Alexandrinsky Theater “has installed equipment to block mobile phone signals in a desperate attempt to force patrons to stop taking calls during performances,” Russian Spy reports.

Bahraini Rants is back to his weekly word teasers with three “interesting to pronounce” words. They are: Higgledy-Piggledy, Didactic and Quiddity. “Look at yourself in the mirror and say them out loud, drop one of them across your dinner conversation, or maybe even have a meltdown and yell one out loud.. I especially like them…” he advises.

Sochi Travel reports these city news: On March 8, Sochi is hosting this year’s finals of the Missis World 2007 beauty contest; the average monthly salary in Sochi in 2006 was $350; 47 students took part in the Armenian literary language competition; avalanche kills a 10-year-old at Krasnaya Polyana ski resort.

Siberian Light writes on the shooting of Paul Joyal, which some consider to be the Kremlin's revenge: “There are plenty of those who are critical of Vladimir Putin, and the current Russian government. The KGB would have a hard time silencing them all…”

Egyptian blogger Sandmonkey claims the CIA is now posting recruitment ads, in order for it to be able to compete with private intelligence agencies!

Egyptian blogger Sandmonkey links to a news article which says that his country will be spending $450 million to conduct a nationwide campaign to vaccinate live poultry against avian influenza, otherwise known as bird flu. “But don't you start spreading rumors that we might be having a Birdflu epidemic or anything. That would be bad!,” he writes with sarcasm.

Bahrain-based Palestinian blogger Haitham Sabbah is outraged that a Canadian Muslim girl was thrown out of a football (soccer) game because she was wearing the Islamic head cover - the Hijab. “I see this as another example of how some idiots are trying to get immigrants to toe a cultural line. Asking minority groups to integrate cannot be equated with forcing them to assimilate and stripping them of their identity and rights!” he writes.

Palestinian blogger Haitham Sabbah links to a video highlighting the plight of a Palestinian doctor and a group of Bulgarian nurses accused of inflicting more than 400 children with the deadly Aids virus in Ben Ghazi, Libya, here. “Injection is the real-life story of six health care workers falsely accused and jailed by the Libyan regime, the deplorable conditions that all led to their arrest, and the simple solution that might have prevented not only this injustice, but millions of needless infections,” he says.

Bahrain-based Palestinian blogger Haitham Sabbah is outraged that a Canadian Muslim girl was thrown out of a football (soccer) game because she was wearing the Islamic head cover - the Hijab. “I see this as another example of how some idiots are trying to get immigrants to toe a cultural line. Asking minority groups to integrate cannot be equated with forcing them to assimilate and stripping them of their identity and rights!” he writes.

Canada-based Silly Bahraini Girl bids her Jewish landlord farewell here. “He doesn't know that my tears are the only way to mourn a friend who knew how to make the most out of life .. but is now gone .. and did not take anything with him!” she writes.

Algerian blogger Nouri gives us an in-depth analysis of the situation brewing in the Middle East between Iran and the US here.

New protests from a rejuvenated opposition led by former Prime Minister Feliks Kulov look to be on the horizon in Kyrgyzstan. Sean Roberts explains how these protests could be more destabilizing than other recent ones.

Tolkun Umaraliev rounds up the Uzbek blogosphere.

KZBlog says that given the UK's experience with e-government, Kazakhstan should not be too eager about developing its own e-government initiatives.

Uzbeks drink tea all the time. At neweurasia, “Girl of the Sands” explains how tea is made and drank.

Vadim rounds up the latest goings on in the Tajik blogosphere.

The Armenian Economist describes how Armenia's agricultural sector has been changing since land was privatized.

Blogster explains why Armenia is a paradise for motorcycling. A follow-up post expands on the original.

A brief history of Goddesses at Days in a wannabe punk's life. “I absolutely adore the idea that we did in fact have Goddesses who existed autonomously without any connection to a male Deity. Call me biased but I find the idea of a goddess who was dark, single, chaotic, uncontrollable and munificent at the same time, exceptionally glorious. “

groundviews on the impact of the ethnic conflict on the Muslims in Sri Lanka. “If you were to go by the international headlines, the Sri Lankan ethnic conflict appears to engage only the two main communities, the Sinhalese and the Tamils. Yet when the conflict exploded into war in 1983, and in the more than two decades following, it was not just the two communities locked in battle that suffered. The impact of the internal war on the island’s Muslim community has been massive – and severely overlooked.”

Mike Averko doesn't like La Russophobe, La Russophobe doesn't like Mike Averko - Andy of Siberian Light interviews them both.

Manshark's Random Rants finds that Child Sexual Abuse Tourism is still not seen as a serious problem in Sri Lanka. “People are still, on the whole, unaware of the problem or are happy to look sad to 2 seconds when the topic comes up before moving on to “let’s talk how to resolve the national problem”. A problem that continues to traumatize and destroy whole future generations is not an issue that is national enough?”

Vilhelm Konnander writes about yet another outspoken Russian journalist who died under mysterious circumstances.

Nepal Monitor discusses the meaning of being modern. “The term ‘modernization', however, has a complex web of meanings. People in different communities understand its nature and characteristics in different ways. Those who practice modernization have different experiences about its consequences to their lives. Those who prefer to prevent themselves from the process of modernization have their own interpretations. In the context of Nepal, modernity still remains a dream, a quest of life and an unavoidable destination of history.”

Unheard Voices discusses the various political possibilities for Bangladesh. “A big question is in everybodies mind now, that is, what’s next? What will happen next, how this interim government will handover to a permanent government? When that will happen? What kind of government will that government be? Which political party or person is likely to lead that government?”

Last week, a number of Russian and international human rights organizations boycotted the human rights conference in Chechnya's capital, reports A Step At A Time.

Blog Bucharest writes about one of the country's top politicians whose knowledge of the Romanian grammar is shamefully poor. Also, Romania's capital may soon cease being a destination for budget airlines - no sooner than it has become one.

From Pestcentric, a news roundup, a post on the prime minister accusing his opponents of anti-Semitism in the London Times, and a caustic account of “one of the latest ‘events' in Hungarian politics.”

A Malaysian blogger is ordered by the industrial court to stop blogging about his wife's troubles with her employer.

Collectif Haiti de Provence wonders whether the Dominican “Gaga” tradition is not derived from the Haitian post carnival musical gatherings called “Rara” [Fr]: “Haitian tourists visiting the other side of the border can tell without a doubt that gaga is practiced and cultivated where Haitians and their descendants reside i.e. in cities that produce sugar.”

Matt puts up with a detailed article on the reactions on the illegal migrant center fire broke out in early Feburary which left 9 migrant workers dead and 18 injured.

In a newly released film, Hannibal Rising, Chinese actress Gong Li has taken up a Japanese character. There are some discussions on: Why does Hollywood turn to Chinese actors when casting Japanese characters? Is this a racist implication that “all asians look the same” or a mere matter of economics? –Japan Probe

Kaide responds (zh) to the recent critique made by a national people congress representative Hung Ke Shu's critical remarks towards 4 major universities and said that the ultimate problem might lie on the education department.

Apart from Chinesecontent wiki initiated by John (GVO) for coordinating translation, there is a new translation community in Mainland China called yeeyan.

Joel Martinsen from DANWEI reported: At a conference yesterday, the Ministry of Public Security and five other government agencies announced plans to implement yet another “real name system,” this time on bicycles.

Sinodrom translated some Chinese critics about the Oscar winning film The Blood of Yingzhou District, which is very different from foreign film critics. — via DANWEI

Sweet Sierra Leone writes about The Think Build Change Salone Initiative in Sierra Leone, “The Think Build Change Salone Initiative came out of an assessment of the 177 registered NGOs in Sierra Leone. Though there are several organizations that focus on youth and vocational training, there are no organizations that focus on professional skill and career development in formal educational settings. And except for a handful of private companies that employ one or two interns a year the concept of interning is for the most part none existent in Sierra Leone.”

Belgian Mission in Sierra Leone posts a YouTube video about Sierra Leone, “A movie to give you already a small impression about Sierra Leone and the influence of the war. We will tell you more about this horrific war later.”