Global Voices Online

Serkantoto at Asiajin introduces readers to the Japanese blog search engine and analyzer Kizasi.

Sleeping With Pengovksy writes about the Slovenian First Lady's admiration for her U.S. counterpart (whom she misnames, however): “Barbs, the Slovene first lady, further went to say that she likes Barbarba (well, Laura) Bush for the strength of her character and the fact that she cured Dubya of alcocholism. Double whoops!”

A new picture of yet another Slovenian “Self-Absorbed Bike Lane-Parking Moron” - at Piran Cafe.

Vilhelm Konnander writes about a crackdown on a rally by the pro-Putin youth movement Nashi: “That police actually intervened against Nashi demonstrators seems an exception to the rule of giving the movement great leeway in their public appearances and propaganda.”

“Amusing quotes” from Latvian politicians (as well as one from Putin, on Latvia), over at Latvian Abroad.

Kamangir writes,according to an Iran based news site,Aftab, “a few days ago,a large group of MPs were lined up in order to greet Iranian president,Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in parliament. Some of the MPs who had not seen him since his return[Hajii pilgrimage] would touch his cloths [because they considered them blessed].One MP went as far as drinking the remaining water in a glass Ahmadinejad had used. He then splashed the water on his clothes.”

Bloggers in Syria are running an online campaign to raise awareness about the case of the 23 years old Syrian blogger, Tarek Baiasi, who has been arrested since July 7th, 2007 for critical comments he posted on a deemed “sensitive” website.

The Missing Sandwich on workplace humour crossing the line and how “funny” taunts smack of racism.

Photographs from the Mylapore Festival 2008 at Chennai Metroblogging.

SidhuSaaheb meets Raza Rumi, a blogger from across the border and shares his experience.

Wayward Mind on the number of deaths in the Bhutto family - political players who died violent deaths.

Benazir Bhutto's son - Bilawal, 19 years old and studying at Oxford has found himself in the media's glare. The Pakistani Spectator on Bilawal being hounded by the media.

Ms Leventine, from Lebanon, adapts The Three Little Pigs to update us on the situation in Lebanon.

What will calm, peaceful, sweet mothers do if US President George W Bush visits Lebanon? Lebanese blogger Jamal Ghosn has the answer here.

“Every time I visit Casablanca, which is once a year or two , I realize that the city is going down on many levels. While cities in many parts of the world become greener, more organized, and safer despite their growth, Casablanca seems to be going the other direction,” writes Moroccan blogger Adilski.

Martin Manurang compares the Economic performance of Indoneisa under the current and the previous two presidents of Indonesia.

Comparing the state of Myanmar at the time of its independance and now.

Dathana talks about the difficulty faced by Myanmar's netizens after the uprising last September.

Education Malaysia hails the decision of a Malaysian University to go green with its food containers.

Eating Asia has a pictorial post covering a conscecration ceremony of a Hindu shrine in Malaysia.

Blog Pimenta Negra [pt] celebrates its 4th anniversary. “It came up due to several circumstances related to the need to find an independent communication channel and an alternative to spread ideas that are far from been echoed in the media”.

Susana Charrua [pt] is alarmed that Portuguese Prime Minister Jose Socrates has decided to seek ratification of the EU's new reform treaty by parliament rather than in a referendum as had been promised, “We are being governed by a dictator of the worst kind, I believe we should begin to fear and face him illegally, boycotting his intentions”, she says.

White African writes about a new tool for reporting acts of violence in Kenya: “Ushahidi.com is a tool for people who witness acts of violence in Kenya in these post-election times. You can report the incident that you have seen, and it will appear on a map-based view for others to see.”

Black Looks writes about Kenya Action Alert blog: “Pambazuka News has created an Action Alert blog for up to date news and alerts on Kenya.”

Carbon Copy posts a 90 second award winning film shot in Cape Town's Khayelitsha township; The film “touches on daily township life in South Africa and how solar energy could be utilised to uplift the poor in a sustainable way.”

Gaoming Jiang of China Dialogue writes of ‘green deserts' characterized by poplar trees and nothing else.
“The Chinese government should consider the needs of local species and biodiversity. We need to consider planting slow-growth but high-quality wood alongside faster-growing species. We must reduce the dominance of the poplar, allowing natural forest ecosystems to play the role they should.”

Barbados Free Press suggests that a political candidate's position on abortion may play a role in whether he is elected to Parliament or not.

“The government, and Bahamians at large, must recognise that tourism is a multi-dimensional phenomenon that calls for much more than a handful of sand, a tan and a dip in the sea”: At WeblogBahamas.com, Adrian Gibson blogs about tourism - and crime.

Jamaican Marlon James continues his musical theme by blogging about “the most disappointing records of 2007″.

Writing for his blog, This is Tbilisi Calling, the BBC's Matthew Collin says that the official results for Saturday's presidential election have finally been declared. As had been reported in the international media anyway, Mikhail Saakashvili won a second term in office, but Collin says that it is doubtful that everything is over.

Abeni blogs about the teachers' strike in St. Vincent.

Ramblings and Reason is “still trying to figure out the whole globalisaiton thing - what it means and whether it's an overall good or bad thing”.

There is an appeal for returning land ownership back to rural peasants (zh)in the civic rights volunteers' blog.

Recently a passerby was beaten to death by a city management team in Hubei because he had taken photos of their violent acts. Boyer2000 pointed out that such kind of news happened so frequently that people started to get used to it (zh).

For a thought-provoking and intriguing daily dose of pictures, visit photographer Carlos Café's new blog. The tip is from the New Alriada Express [pt].

Maciula reports on the new “gas” news from Turkmenistan — on 27 December, President Berdymukhammedov informed that in 2008 Turkmenistan will conduct an audit of all hydrocarbon deposits.

Zhanna Zhukova tells about a new Russian translation of the epic novel “Abai’s Path” from the original Kazakh. Despite criticism that the work was done on the basis of interlinear translation, the new version is deemed a success by the author’s son.

Zhanna Zhukova writes about a weird news item about alleged crash of an UFO in the northern Kazakhstan that has been reported to the competent bodies by a local head of police.

Nasim Fekratْ focuses this time on the issue of drug abuse in Aghanistan and says that the number of opium addicts in Kabul alone was more than 30,000 in estimation in 2004 but three years after, this number doubled.

The Latin Americanist discusses the anger expressed by Mapuche indigenous groups over the death of a local activist by Chilean police.

Could the Central American nations form a united Central American union? Aaron Ortiz of Pensieve provides a little bit of historical background on the region and links to several organizations that work across the region.

Two out of every three Mexican citizens reported that 2007 was better for them personally than 2006 according to a national poll writes Vivir México [es].

Cristina Quisbert of Bolivia Indigena [es] writes about her neighborhood store in El Alto, Bolivia, which helps bail her out when she needs ingredient for her breakfast or also provides a friendly face to pass the time in conversation.

Juan Carlos Hidalgo [es] and Costa Rica Blogs write about the chaotic situation at the San José International airport, where the curbside baggage handlers operate without any regulation negotiating their fees themselves. Hidalgo sarcastically writes that he needs a politician to determine prices in this competitive field.

Rachel Glickhouse has a new blog page: the Top Ten Reasons You SHOULDN'T visit Rio.

Hugo Miranda of Angel Caido [es] discusses the possibility of the One Laptop Per Child project in Bolivia.

David Holiday of Central America and Beyond compares Salvadoran presidential candidate Mauricio Funes of FMLN to the “rock-star status” of Barack Obama due to how Funes is being received by the electorate.