David Sasaki

Mauritania : Ignorance and Tradition

Beauty, notes Mialy Andriamananjara, is in the eye of the beholder - and for women in Mauritania, that means the bigger the better. At times it also means gavage, or forced feeding. Mauritanian blogger Naomed reflects on the confusing intersection between traditional practices and a globalized notion of human rights.

Morocco: The Upcoming Elections

This year marks Morocco’s eighth legislative elections, which started in 1960, just after Morocco gained independence - with 33 parties, 1,870 local candidate lists and 26 national candidate lists of women all vying for the 325 seats of lower parliament, local bloggers have plenty to talk about.

Japan: Life out of a Manga Kissa

Results of a survey just released by the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare has found that thousands of people across Japan bordering on poverty live their lives out of Internet cafes or “manga kissa”. Bloggers this week reflected on the significance of the results.

Afghanistan: Errors of Judgment

In his first roundup for Global Voices, Joshua Foust takes a tour of mostly Western experts on Afghanistan to see where and how things are changing. This week, he focuses on the newly unveiled American opium eradication campaign.

Ukraine: Animal Shelter

On August 19, Ukrainian journalist Tanya Kremen paid a visit to an animal shelter located near a small town just outside Kyiv. Veronica Khokhlova translates her impressions and thoughts, which she has posted on her blog at Korrespondent.net, as well as a couple of comments from her readers.

Ugandans and Expats Face Off in the Blogosphere

Tension between expats and locals is nothing new. But how that tension is expressed in the digital age is still taking shape. Case in point: Uganda.

Arabeyes: Who is Using the Tunisian Presidential Airplane?

The Tunisian presidential airplane and the ‘unofficial’ trips it takes to Europe and the fashion capitals of the world has attracted the scrutiny of the country’s most outspoken bloggers.

Roundups

Gambian hip-hop, the military and democracy in Bangladesh, soy sauce for ice cream … and lots more in today’s Global Roundups.

So is the era of Cambodia being (virtually) free from international chain restaurants truly over?

In a few hours I'll be back in Bangkok and once again able to watch YouTube.

Incredible!

I don’t remember if it was Preetam’s idea or my idea, but at $20 a night, it was definitely worth going for the luxury room at Hotel Cara. Check it out - I have a feeling this is what MTV’s Real World would look like if based in Phnom Penh:

Phatry was the one who hooked us up with the deal. Phatry is one of these young, overachieving, global citizens who you start to encounter more and more frequently as you dip into Global Voices and the global blogosphere. He is a ‘Khmerican” - born in Cambodia, but raised and educated in the US. In fact, he’s from my hometown, Seattle, and on the way to last night’s bloggers’ dinner we talked about Blue Scholars, the Long Beach rock group Dengue Fever, and Asian gangsters from Los Angeles who are deported to Cambodia, a country most of them don’t remember (having emigrated to the US as infants) and with a language most of them don’t speak.

Phatry, sporting Converses and speaking almost entirely in American idioms, is using the internet to encourage more interaction between Cambodian-Americans (”Khmericans”) and Cambodians.

I’m incredibly impressed with what the group of Cambodian bloggers who call themselves the “Cloggers” have pulled off with the first ever Cambodian Bloggers Summit. The first day of the conference provided a fascinating snapshot of 1.) how young Cambodians are leading their country’s cultural integration into the rest of the world, 2.) how IT companies are trying to expand the reach of broadband penetration throughout Cambodia, and 3.) how old school Cambodian journalists are having a difficult time adapting to the changes in online media.

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Beth is a live-blogging machine. She typed this one out with a translator whispering in her ear.