David Sasaki

A lot of people wonder why I have so many Indian friends. Me too. Surely, it has something to do with where I grew up, but that alone doesn’t explain the overwhelming preponderance of sub-continent in my life.

Whatever the explanation may be - psychological or otherwise - you can bet that the following editorial from today’s Hindustan Times will be brought up by yours truly in many future 3 a.m. drunken debates.

Apparently, Sensex is not the only thing whose measurement is a subject of intense debate. After having fathered a substantial one billion — and counting —Indian men have to cope with some research that shows them to be smaller than they really are where it is supposed to count. A survey by the Indian Council of Medical Research, conducted on 1,200 Indian men, revealed that international size condoms are not fit for local men, because they come in larger sizes.

In this day of iPods and miniaturisation, it is not hard to believe that size is not everything. In fact, with EF Schumacher (the economist, not the motor racer), we might well say small is beautiful. It certainly is bountiful, as one billion people on the face of the nation show. Condoms, thus, are a matter of pure technicality. No need here to ascribe subtle symbolisms that show Indian men in a poorer light. Their performance shows they are quite productive. Or should we say reproductive? Whatever the semantics, the semen apparently ticks better in the land where phallic symbolism is part of the cultural heritage. Like laptop computers and iPods, like dish antennae and microchips, what matters really is what is inside.

If chuckles, raised eyebrows and snide remarks come in the wake of news reports that the rubber must get smaller for Indians, blame it entirely on jealousy, envy or other green emotions that invite wicked humour. That is the long and the short of this issue.

I can’t wait to tell HP about similar forthcoming condom research about to be published in Mexico. As I like to point out to him, how many Mexican porn actors have you seen?

China: A Giant Power or not?

A series on Chinese television documenting the nation’s history over six hundred years has bloggers pointing out lessons to be learned - but perhaps not those the authorities were hoping. The rights of the citizenry versus those of the state are being championed.

Student Protest, Election and USA-Iran Talks

National students’ day in Iran was taken very seriously by thousands of young people attending university - they held huge demonstrations against recent action by the authorities against both students and academic staff. Bloggers gave accounts of the nationwide protests and posted photographs. Others discussed the possibility of future talks between Iran and the US, with a diversity of views on display.

The ‘Aerial Blackout’ in Brazil

A failure of the country’s air traffic control system last week couldn’t have come at a worse time as, ten weeks after Brazil’s worst air disaster, the blame game is being played fast and furiously. Where should the buck stop, with politicians or air traffic controllers? That’s one of the many issues bloggers in Brazil are debating.

Arabisc: An Arab in Toronto and Arabs and Civilisation

Want to buy a rocket with leather seats? Read Amira Al Hussaini’s roundup of blogs in Arabic to find out where to go. As well as fancy transportation she visits Egypt where a woman complains of the female quarters at the mosque, Canada, to hear of one traveler’s experiences in North America and a thoughtful Tunisian meditating on the varying categories of Arab identity.

Global Voices Delhi summit - only a few days to go!

Last, but not least, it’s the Global Voices Summit in India in a few days time. Please join us and have your say on our key themes this year - outreach and advocacy. This post gives you all the details you need to take part online and add to the conversation.

Roundups

The struggle for health as a human rights issue in Bangladesh, how the Yemeni Government combats terrorism with marriage, reaction to Pinochet’s death in Chile, and much more can be found in today’s Global Roundups.

Indonesia: Polygamous Holy Man and MP’s Sex Scandal

In an era when Britney Spears garners more international web attention than any other person on earth, the ubiquitous appeal of celebrity impropriety seems to multiply exponentially with the ease of spreading the incriminating evidence. Case in point: Indonesia’s polygamous holy man and an MP’s cell phone-recorded sex scandal.

What the Saudis are Talking About

Stories of Saudi Women: they cannot legally drive, a gang-raped teenager is sentenced to more lashes than one of her attackers, and a group of women doctors were asked to leave a lecture hall because of their offending gender. Also, comparative analysis of Saudi graffiti and one blogger’s encounter with a street prostitute in Jeddah.

Voices from Central Asia

Ben Paarman takes us for our biweekly flyover of Central Asian cyberspace, where the death of a Kyrgyz driver by an American soldier becomes an issue of diplomacy; Kazakhs debate their country’s 2009 chairmanship of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE); and a dubious public opinion poll shows that Uzbekistan now tops Disneyland as the happiest place on earth.

Serbia: Vojislav Seselj on Hunger Strike

As parliamentary elections approach in Serbia, a hunger strike by Vojislav Šešelj - currently awaiting trial for crimes against humanity in The Hague - is prompting debate about the former paramilitary leader’s legacy, political influence, and rights as a prisoner of the International Criminal Court.

Arabisc: Imprisoned Egyptian Blogger Lost in Legal Wrangle!

Amira Al Hussaini continues her attentive coverage of the detention of Egyptian blogger Abdulkareem Sulaiman in what has become “a legal tangle and a tug-of-war game with authorities who are ensuring that Kareem is punished even before he goes on trial.” We also hear from a hypothetical SMS genie in Bahrain and of web design fables in the United Arab Emirates.

Egypt: Bloggers open the door to police brutality debate

They are not easy to watch, but cellphone-recorded videos of police brutality in Egypt are giving rise to a national campaign against police torture. Sameer Padania documents the movement’s history, actors, and progress.

Global Voices launches new search function!

The internet is a big place. And searching for world news from fresh local voices can seem like an impossible task. Until now. With Google’s Co-op searching technology, Global Voices co-founder Ethan Zuckerman and tech guru Boris Anthony have developed the “Global Voices Web” search engine to narrow your results from trusted sources compiled by GV’s regional editors. Rebecca MacKinnon explains how to take advantage of the service in greater detail.

Roundups

Untangling the details of Aleksandr Litvinenko’s poisoning, repatriation of Senegalese migrants, female bodyguards in Russia, and much more can be found in today’s Global Roundups.

It’s Friday. It was one of those mornings when at 9 a.m. the sky still looks like it’s sunrise, the air is still 6 a.m. crisp. It’s supposed to rain.

Yesterday Booger passed her driving test. Waiting in line for the driving tester to approach she offered this gem of wisdom: “You know, I decided that I’m just not going to get nervous anymore, cause I mean really, it’s not like it does anything for you, you know?”

Point of the story is that the next time you’re in the Bay Area it is decidedly safer to take BART than share the road with my dear sister.

The day after tomorrow I leave for Delhi. The last time I was in the City of Djinns was a week after I thought I was going to die and just a few days after I first found out about 9/11. I wonder how much it has changed in the last five years. I wonder if I’ll still be able to find my way around Connaught Place. I wonder if I’ll spend my first night there in some cheap hotel on Pahaganj. I wonder if there will be stoned Israelis playing guitar in the lobby.

I’m listening to Gustavo Cerati’s “new” album Ahí Vamos, but I just can’t get into it. It’s no Soda Stereo, that’s for sure. Medea says I need to hear Andrea Echeverri singing with Cerati on “La Ciudad de la Furia.” If you got it, please gmail it to me.

Speaking of Argentina, Ian Mount (infamous for his controversial piece “A Movable Fiesta“) made a really good point recently about Pasa en Buenos Aires, the city government’s “official blog.” It provides an amazing and far-too-rare link between city government and citizen journalism.

I mean, really, how many people under the age of 65 regularly look at their city’s municipal website? When we get parking tickets, right? And yet Pasa en Buenos Aires is one of the coolest and most popular blogs in the whole city.

Lately I’ve been wondering if weblogs make us less politically active. If we’re upset with an issue in our city are we more likely to blog about it and forget about it than march down to city hall and try to get legislation introduced to fix it? Do weblogs give us a space to let off steam, which takes away from the pressure necessary to make change?

I remember we once had a conversation on San Diego Blog about closing off Fourth and Fifth Avenue in the Gaslamp district one afternoon each week to get people out and walking in the streets. It was a great idea - still is - but it never made the transition from comment thread to city council and that’s what I think is so great about Pasa en Buenos Aires - it provides that bridge between online public opinion and municipal government bureaucracy.

Here in Oakland I’ve taken to watching City Council and various committee meetings on the city’s cable TV channel. I do it to check out Mari. And because it’s fun to get to know the characters she talks about when she comes home from work. My favorite, by far, is Sanjiv Handa. Born in Chandigarh, he immigrated to the US with his parents when he was nine and has a has a degree in business management from Cal Berkeley.

Outgoing mayor Jerry Brown accused Handa of living in the city’s pressroom. Handa insists he has a house.

But no one knows how he affords it. Supposedly people subscribe to his online newsletters about city politics. His portrait is in the dictionary entry for gadfly. He speaks on every item at every single council meeting, licking his lips twice and adjusting the microphone once. His condemnations are as monotone as they are articulate.

The man needs a weblog. For real. The technology was made for people like Sanjiv Handa. He could easily establish himself as the voice of the people here in Oakland if he were willing to interact with them more online. Oakland would never do what Buenos Aires did so well: starting their own popular municipal blog. But Handa could provide that same bridge.

Arabisc: Prison Adventures and a Yemeni Cure for Aids!

A single blog in several million is easily taken for granted. That is, however, until speaking your mind can land you in jail as happened once again to Egyptian blogger Abdul Kareem Nabeel Sulieman. Amira Al Hussaini translates the notes he has been passing to friends from prison among other posts from the Arabic blogosphere.

Philippines: A new Constitution next week?

Pro-administration legislators in the Philippine Congress are playing hardball to change their country’s 1987 constitution, which, according to Mong Palatino, “they believe is already obsolete and hinders foreign investments.” But it appears, judging from the instant condemnation of Filipino bloggers, the move might just backfire.

China: Beijing bloggers drop the ball?

Does punishing accused prostitutes with public humiliation signal a potential return to Cultural Revolution-era mob tactics? Will relaxed rules for foreign reporters benefit local journalists? And how did the first ever Chinese Human Rights Exhibition, held in Beijing’s Cultural Palace of Nationalities turn from an unnoticed event to a place of protest? The answers are found in translation.

Pinochet’s Heart Attack: Bloggers Reactions

The days, albeit not legacies, of two 20th century Latin American legends are coming to an end. One of those is Chilean ex-dictator, Augusto Pinochet who neared one step closer toward mortality last week after suffering a heart attack. Rosario Lizana looks at how Chile is responding.

Roundups

Mexican protest leader arrested, kissing and Bollywood, the legacy of Mwalimu Nyerere in Tanzania, and much more can be found in today’s Global Roundups.

1.) The faster you drive the more difficult it is to see what’s around you.

2.) The more people talking in a room, the more difficult to hear any one person.