The Truth Shall Set You Free..

Dave Lucas published "Egyptian Blogger Sentenced to Prison" today.

I haven't checked out the facts to assertain the guilt or innocence of the blogger in question, but the posting made me remember a link off the site I've recommended here a few times, GlobalVoices ( Dave likes it, too!) .

The link takes you to a "Handbook for bloggers and cyber-dissidents" which helps those under governmental oppression get their words out to the world.

After this foray into the story's context, I went to GlobalVoices itself and found Much More Coverage...

This in turn reminded me of the oppression of a religious group in Egypt. Here's that story...

Where In The World ?

I have no idea where in the world this picture was taken. That's just fine, though, 'cause I wanted a place that was extremely different from where I am.

I live in southwestern Ohio in the United States--no mountains, just hills; no isolated cabins on the edge of glaciers...

Pictures from space have shown us how "small" our planet is but pictures down here can definitely show how "small" We are.

And, when it comes to my feelings about the big/small world and my small/big place in it, the best way I've seen it said is: "Glory not in love for your country, but in love for all mankind."

There's a service down aways on the sidebar called "B.I.D.E. Global Blog Feed". It comes from a site I want to praise and encourage you to visit: GlobalVoices

Their slogan is: "The world is talking. Are you listening?"

And, here's their agenda:

"GlobalVoices seeks to amplify, curate and aggregate the global conversation online - with a focus on countries and communities outside the U.S. and Western Europe. We are committed to developing tools, institutions and relationships that will help all voices everywhere to be heard."

It's exhilarating just to go there and browse the blogs from so many countries but it's downright uplifting to peruse their Resources:

How-to guides:

Reporters Without Borders Handbook for Bloggers and Cyber-Dissidents
(Mirror sites: here for English and for Chinese here and here.)

Anoniblog Guide: Guide to anonymous blogging by Ethan Zuckerman

Useful Documents:

Infrastructure of Democracy: Statement by a working group at the Club de Madrid on how not to destroy the internet while fighting terrorism

Six recommendations to ensure freedom of expression on the Internet from Reporters Without Borders and the OSCE.

Universal Declaration of Human Rights: including the universal right to free speech for all human beings.

Communities:

The Digital Divide Network: the Internet’s largest community for educators, activists, policy makers and concerned citizens working to bridge the digital divide.

Media Bloggers Association: a non-partisan organization dedicated to promoting MBA members and their blogs, educating bloggers, and promoting the explosion of citizen’s media.

Omidyar Network: online community dedicated to making the world a better place.

Free hosting, free content:

Internet Archive: Universal access to human knowledge.

Ourmedia: free storage and free bandwidth for your videos, audio files, photos, text or software. Forever. No catches.

Creative Commons: a nonprofit that offers a flexible copyright for creative work.

Organizations supporting online free speech:

Berkman Center for Internet & Society: host organization for Global Voices Online.

Internet Freedom of Expression Exchange: defending global freedom of expression. Check out their Tunisia monitoring group.

Reporters Without Borders: fighting for freedom of the press worldwide.

Committee to Protect Bloggers: an independent organization dedicated to bloggers’ rights around the world.

Electronic Frontier Foundation: Defending freedom in the digital world.

Human Rights Watch: Defending human rights worldwide.

Spirit of America: supporting champions of freedom, democracy, and peace.