Okay so I am supposed to write a blog on China, but as I stated in an earlier blog I am on a search for light hearted blogs rather than heavy human rights issues, and as the Olympics move to China this year, controversy is on its heels.

Instead I am looking into a part of Asian culture that I love, Hello Kitty. Hello Kitty is based out of Japan, but its popularity spans the entire globe, China included.

In a Google search I typed, "Hello Kitty Blogs" and I was surprised by the amount of blogs about the cute cat.

Here is one of my favorites: It is about how a wife's love of the cat spawned a deep hatred for HK from her husband.

Hello Kitty Hell

Hello Kitty Cocaine

In a recent drug bust in Guatemala, law enforcement officials found cocaine wrapped in Hello Kitty paper. This is what the Hello Kitty Hell blogger had to say about it:

"You knew that it was merely a matter of time. Was there really any doubt that we would eventually confirm that Hello Kitty is dealing cocaine?

This is what Guatemalan anti-narcotics police found when they seized 1.2 tons of the cocaine on its way to Mexico on April 13th. Now, this really should not come as a surprise to anyone. Cocaine and Hello Kitty display an awful lot of the same properties when it comes to addiction so combining them together probably seemed like the perfect move for Sanrio. If you have ever had to deal with a Hello Kitty fanatic in your life, you already have wondered if they were high on something whenever Hello Kitty is mentioned."

This blog is pretty great, check it out if you have the time.

Hello Kitty is so popular in China that manufacturers have created Hello Kitty Panty Liners! Again, Hello Kitty Hell Blogger covers it all.

HK Panty Liners

Many Hello Kitty products are only available in China. As the Sanriotown Blog displays a new HK phone only available there.

Here is a picture a HK from China:

Chinese Kitty

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As I sit in my living room with the window open, a warm breeze hits my face and instantly the smell reminds me of my other home: Athens, Greece. It also helps that two men walking by were speaking Greek.

Experts say that our sense of smell is our most powerful and any of us that have been instantly transported to another place just by a whiff of air would agree.

The smell for me is the warm air mixed with the aroma of diesel fumes, instantly I am taken to my home in Athens, where I am sitting drinking coffee listening to the roar of cars. The way the warm dry breeze mixes with the air you only feel in a foreign country.

Greece is a country deeply rooted in its history. The Aramaic alphabet is the oldest language in existence and is the basis of all languages used today, many words in English hold their roots in Greek.

In my search for blogs out of the country, most often people write about their travels through the unbelievable landscape and culture of the country.

Instead of connecting readers to them, I thought I would give you some of my experiences and showcase some of my favorite places.

I love Athens, it is dirty, gritty and crowded. I tell friends who travel there to only stay for a couple of days because I think it is hard to handle for the average vacationer. Tourist areas in Athens are notoriously high priced and Greeks love to take advantage of the wide-eyed tourist.

My mother and I have tested this. We sat down to eat the heavy tourist traffic of Monastiraki and Plaka, we were speaking English. When the waiter greeted us and handed us the menu we were both shocked at the prices.

We both kind of laughed and then my mom in her Athenian Greek accent said to the waiter, "Give us the real menu."

"I am sorry," the waiter replied, "I thought you were Americans."

He promptly returned with another menu, and the price was 5 Euros cheaper for certain items.

The Greeks have been living with tourists for a long time, and they have quickly adapted their dislike for outsiders by taking them for all they have, I guess it makes up for visitors invading their homeland.

Monastiraki

Native Greek people are homogeneous, and it is hard for them to see outside of their culture.

My sister, Christine, was born in Greece and lived there until she was five years old. My sister does not look Greek with blonde hair and blue eyes, but is 100 percent native.

She traveled last year with her boyfriend Matt to Athens, and said she never wants to vacation in her homeland again unless she has to.

Christine and Matt have lived and traveled all over the world and said that the Greeks were the rudest people they had encountered. It was only when she began speaking Greek to locals that they warmed up to her.

I too have seen this side of the country, as my Greek is at times pretty bad. I don't look Greek either and have experienced prejudice because I don't blend in.

On a much greater scale, here is another example of Greece's reluctance to accept outsiders. BBC Article

But all of this could never keep me away from Greece; the islands are some of the most beautiful places in the world. The highly tourist populated Santorini is one of my favorite with its volcanic cliffs and theory that it was where the lost city of Atlantis once stood.

Fira, Santorini

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Cambodia is one of the poorest countries in the world and at present, has one of the highest rates of AIDS infections in Southeast Asia.

National HIV prevalence rate among adults (ages 15 to 49): 1.6 percent¹
Adults and children (ages 0-49) living with HIV at the end of 2005: 130,000¹
AIDS deaths (adults and children) in 2005: 16,000¹
AIDS orphans at the end of 2005: not available¹

Taken from U.S. President's Plan for AIDS Relief

There is a lot of information regarding the AIDS epidemic in Cambodia, but not many people from the country blog about the disease in their country.

AIDS is still seen as a stigma in the country and this video helps to explain that:

Face-to-Face: AIDS in Cambodia

The country's sex trade drives the spread of AIDS in Cambodia and it now rivals Thailand as a leading destination for sex tourism. Prostitution is illegal in the country but is tolerated and often public officials are involved.

According to March Reuters report HIV cases in Southeast Asia could increase as much as 150 percent by the year 2020.

Nearly 5 million people are infected with HIV in Asia now, with 440,000 dying annually, the report said. The annual death toll will rise to almost 500,000 by 2020 without a scaled-up response, according to the report, entitled "Redefining AIDS in Asia - Crafting an Effective Response."

AIDS is the most likely cause of death and work days lost among 15-to-44-year-olds in Asia, according to the commission, which worked on the report for 18 months. Asia ranks second regionally in HIV cases behind Sub-Saharan Africa, which has an estimated 22.5 million people living with HIV.

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I am really sick of writing about business, politics and all the sad shit that goes on in this world. I have decided to only write blog postings that have nothing to do with the aforementioned.

The Middle East. I feel that when most Americans think about this far off place our minds usually lead us to all the atrocities occurring there or we tremble in fear about all the terrorists and how they are out to kill us all.

I could write about Iraq, Iran or Israel, places of great turmoil in the region, but I just can't do that. So I looked into my memory bank and found the United Arab Emirates, a place that I associate with the rich and famous. A country that has an indoor ski resort when the average temperature is 80 degrees, for frick's sake.

The first blog about the UAE that I found was: The Secret Dubai Diary. In the author's April 8 post titled, "A 'Jumeirah Pillow'"

"What is the best way to get that extra special touch of personal room service when staying at a five star hotel? All is revealed in an article about the Jumeirah Carlton Tower:

Just in case you need to know, there’s a coded way to ask for a prostitute. You phone the concierge and say: “Can I have another pillow?”

As an April Fool's joke the author writes about Dubai's plans to build the "Actual World", an obvious reference to Dubai's penchant to build on a grand scale.

"Faced with lukewarm celebrity interest in its The World artificial islands project, Dubai has decided to build The Actual World.

The multi-trillion dollar mega-project, believed to be largest in the known universe, will see a scale replica of the entire Earth rebuilt on the planet Mars.

The Red Planet was recently acquired by Dubai Holdings as part of its property portfolio diversification strategy."

In the few blogs I have read out of Dubai it seems that the people have a bit of sarcasm that I greatly appreciate. It gets lonely as a cynical business reporter that cannot tell Kraft Foods to screw off.

Here is another blog out of Dubai: Adventures in Dubai by Keefieboy

"Apparently the land that the Hard Rock Café stands on has been sold to somebody who wants to build a skyscraper, and we know how desperately Dubai needs more of those. So yet another Dubai landmark will be pulled down."

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In my search to find blogs from Central and South America I happened upon blogs about "emo" culture in the countries of the region.

"Emo" is short for emotional, usually those that follow this way of life define themselves through dark clothing, dark makeup and listen to depressing music. "Emo" is a label, like "grunge" in the 90's or the free loving "hippies" of the late 60's. More often than not, those who follow the emo scene are teenagers or young adults who find something to connect with in the culture.

Personally, I don't have too much association with people in the "emo" scene and often use the label to make fun of my boyfriend who hates it when I say his "outfit looks soooo emo." Yes, I am stereotyping a little but I identify "emo's" with tight fitting jeans, Van's shoes and black hair with long bangs. Hey as a tattooed woman who owns a rottweiler I am often lumped into categories such as gay, punk rocker, white trash or a felon. As human beings I think all we lump everyone into some kind of organizational structure. But seriously, to beat someone to a pulp because of their clothes and musical preferences.

Emo

Wow?! Here is a generic photo I found (right) from Google, showing that Emo bashing has been around for a while. People get crazy huh, when someone is not like them?

The emo culture has spread to Latin and Central America and many of the youth who are involved in this scene are facing persecution from local residents and the news media.

On March 22, Daniel Hernandez, wrote about "emo's" in Mexico for his blog Intersections.

"A bizarre wave of mob emo-bashings is sweeping across Mexico. The movement is being generated on message boards and social networking sites by non-emo youth who highly dislike like the emo look and attitude.

The spark came first in Queretaro on March 7. An estimated 800 young people poured into the city's Centro Historico hunting for emo's to beat the crap out of. They found some. The next weekend it spread to Mexico City, where emos faced off against punks and rockabillies at the Glorieta de Insurgents, the epicenter of emo social space in the capital. There have also been reports of anti-emo violence in Durango, Colima, and elsewhere."

Hernandez followed up his "emo" blog report for LA Weekly.

"In Mexico, emo culture is a butt of many jokes. It is either despised intensely or generally ignored. But it's only the despising sentiment that lately has been getting wide airplay. For Televisa an on-air personality named Kristoff expresses a serious dose of antiemo rhetoric and switches to English to say, on network television, "Fucking bullshit" to the emo movement. Some emos I've interviewed point to the Kristoff clip as a defining provocation of the current wave of anti-emo violence."

Mexico City resident, Harry24, a user on the LastFM "Anit Emo Death Squad Forum", describes why he thinks there has been a rash of attacks on Mexican emo's.

"But why there are a high number of emos here in my country?????
As you may know, Mexico is a "developing country", but that's a fuckin lie, we are walking backwards, and the country is turning worse and worse, if somebody tells you that Mexico is walking to the progress its a fucking liar, i say this because I live in Mexico City, and I can honestly say that this city and all the country is getting worse.

So what are the factors that contribute to the high number of emos???"

Here are his five reasons involving a breakdown of these aspects in Mexican society:

1. Family

2. Music

3. Media

4. Culture

5. Government

The phenomenon of "emo" hating as spread to Peru and bloggers are telling the public of what they think about Peruvian emo's.

Here is what Marco of Andando Sin Caminos wrote about "emo's" in Peru.

"It is true that I was not familiar with such a strange living species until I went to the Spanish Cultural Center, which is located in Lima and I stopped to observe a park located in front of the center. It attracted my attention, in the first place, to see so many youth dressed in a strange manner, somewhere between black punk clothing, mixed with a bright pink, and with a haircut of a character of Japanese anime. Upon first glance, they appeared to be defenseless for how skinny they are and for looking childlike. And they are defenseless because a friend told me that he had seen many of them beaten by gangs and by punks that hang out around the Spanish Cultural Center for their appearance."

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Serbian Map

Country Facts:

-Formed in 1918 as the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes

-1929 became Yugoslovia

-1989 Slobodan Milosevic became president of the Serbian Republic      of Yugoslavia

-Milosovic's ultranationalism led to the breakup of Yugoslavia

-In 1991 Croatia, Slovenia, and Macedonia declared independence followed by Bosnia in 1992

-Serbia and Montenegro declared a new Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY) in April 1992 under Milosovic's leadership

-Serbia led military campaigns to unite ethinic Serbs throughout the former Yugoslavia, this led the United Nations to oust Yugoslavia

- In 1998 ethnic Albanians living in Kosovo led a small insurgency against Serbians. The FRY responded by killing Albanians and driving them out of Kosovo. This resulted in the United Nations bombing Serbia and driving them out of Kosovo.

-In September 2000 Milosevic was ousted from power and arrested for crimes against humanity in 2001. Before the completion of his trial with the International War Tribunal at the Hague.

-Montenegro decalred independance from Serbia in June 2006 and Kosovo did the same in 2008.

Ethnic Groups in Serbia:

-Serb 82.9%
-Hungarian 3.9%
-Romany (Gypsy) 1.4%
-Yugoslavs 1.1%
-Bosniaks 1.8%
-Montenegrin 0.9%
-Other 8%

Kostunica & Tadic

Current President:

-Boris Tadic (right)

Prime Minister:

-Vojislav Kostunica (left)

Analysis:

Serbian nationals are prevalent around the Balkan region, but majorities still reside in the Serbian capital of Belgrade.

The Serbian Orthodox Church plays a large role in the identity of Serbians. Serbians grasp firmly to the ideals of the Orthodox religion.

Orthodox Church

Ethnic peoples are extremely family oriented. Those who live outside of the large cities still farm and remain dedicated to the traditional way of living. Horse drawn plows and wagons can be seen tending to the land.

When outside of the city, there are numerous roadside cafes where locals congregate to have coffee, a Serbian favorite. Passersby sometimes can see an animal being roasted outdoors to be shared with friends and family.

Serbs are very proud of their nationalism and this has led to the current issues in the country.

When Kosovo declared its independence from Serbia many ethnics were outraged and asked that other countries join them in not recognizing Kosovo as an independent state.

Serbian blogger Ljubisa Bojic wrote about the governments outrage as Kosovo made the announcement:

"In reaction Vojislav Kostunica, prime minister of Serbia, criticized America for inspiring these acts against a sovereign country. He said:

'The United States have also humiliated the European Union, and forced it to trample on the principles it is built upon,' Ko_tunica added, and warned that Europe, “which has lowered its head”, will be responsible 'for all the serious consequences that Kosovo's independence carries with it.'"

The U.S. supported Kosovo in its decision to succeed from Serbia, as well as many other European nations.

Serbia is trying to gain membership into the European Union, but after the Kosovo announcement, the Serbian parliament proposed to suspend ties with the EU in protest.

The government of Serbia is now urging President Boris Tadic to call a special parliamentary election because ministers have failed to agree upon a stance for EU relations. The hope of an election is to create a parliament that can agree on EU membership.

As well, bloggers in Serbia have been speaking out regarding Kosovo and the media's portrayal of Serbs.

When Serbians attacked the United States Embassy in Belgrade, many Serb bloggers were outraged with the international media for not giving the whole side of the story.

Serbian Blogger Rosemary Bailey Brown wrote:

"Yet again Serbia's image and much of its political and economic future  is being decided vividly in headlines in the Western press. For example, the hugely influential and (usually) highly credible Washington Post just ran an editorial headlined, 'Serbia's Thugs'.

"As if the headline is not bad enough, the editorial is completely one-sided and simple-minded, basically saying Serbs Yet Again Suck, but not giving any reasons why or background into how the US government may have (heartily) contributed to the problems."

The Washington Post article compared the prime minister to Slobodan Milosevic saying that Kostunica allowed police to retreat from Belgrade allowing "thugs" to destroy the U.S. embassy.

Serbian blogger Viktor Markovi of Belgrade 2.0 gave the account of what happened:

"Riots that happened tonight were directly provoked, encouraged and fueled by the government. The government also did almost nothing to stop this obvious madness from happening – on the contrary. In comparison to an average number of policemen we had on protests during Milosevic regime, you could practically say that the streets of Belgrade were policies today."

"Unfortunately, Western medias choose to show the rioting and not the “peaceful and dignified” protest meeting in front of the parliament. And the rioting is not where the real evil was coming from tonight."

Bloggers of Serbia focus a lot on the portrayal of Serbs in the Western media. They often feel as though their is only one side of the story. These bloggers give the story of the people, not the sensationalism that is brought on by Western media outlets.

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Sinisa Boljanovic's Blog

Sinisa Boljanovic is an ethnic Serb who thinks that blogging is an important tool for getting the people's voice heard. His blogs mostly cover what other bloggers are saying about Serbia and media stories regarding Serbia.

While bloggers in Serbia do not face much persecution for speaking their minds, they are an important link in writing about Serbian culture and how governmental policies affect everyday life in the country.

Here is an interview I did with Boljanovic:

How do you think blogging has changed Serbia?

During the last 20 years Serbia became a political, cultural and
social deeply divided country. Serbia change herself very slowly. According
to some unofficial sources there were just few percentages people who are able to
use a computer and Internet. Then it is logical the blogging has changed
Serbia very little.

Do you think blogging is giving Serbians a chance to express their
frustrations with the country and government?

Yes, I do. Blogging is sure one of good way the expressing of frustrations
with the country and government.

Do you know of a lot of bloggers writing out of Serbia?

There are bloggers who write out of Serbia but I could not say how many
bloggers are there. I know some of them.

Have bloggers had an effect on any government policy?

No, they didn't have direct effect on government policy. At least as far as
I know. The government policy directly depends on few controversial Serbian
businessmen. They are monopolists and by corruption of politicians
successfuly block all processes of assocination of the European Union.
Bloggers are infirm in that case.

Do you face any persecution from your government if you blog about them or
their policies?

No, I don't. Although Serbia is still not utterly democratic country, I
think there were not any so case in Serbia.

It is different with journalists of some independence media. That is very
interesting regarding Serbian bloggers criticize the power very strongly.

What do you think are the most important issues facing Serbians?

Yes, without any doubt. Serbian bloggers write about most important issues
(such as Kosovo's issue, war criminal, Ratko Mladic etc.) very very
courageously.

Is the media in your country fair and unbiased?

After the change of Milosevic regime (Oct 5, 2000) the media picture is
little better than before that. However, many media are still under control
the government and suspicious mention businessmen. In other words, many
media are unfair and unbiased.

Are bloggers in Serbia telling a story that the media is not?

There are examples when Serbian bloggers tell stories that media are not.
But they more usual react on the media stories, news etc.

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Some data about who is immigrating to the U.S. and other countries:

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In the spring of 2005 I spent 10 days driving through Serbia, Bosnia and Croatia, ten years after the Bosnian-Serb war had ended. The landscape was some of the most beautiful in the world with huge mountains and flowing rivers, but tucked into the wooded mountainsides were reminders of what had been the bloodiest war since World War II.

Mass graves with white crosses adorned the place for the unidentified dead. There was a joke I heard while I was in Bosnia, "Bosnian vegetables are the largest, freshest and juiciest in the whole world because of the fertilizer." When I heard this I was disgusted because I knew it was referencing the thousands of mass graves that had yet to be discovered in the country.

But this joke is a fact of life for those who still live in Bosnia, graves and land-mines are still being discovered. The borders of Bosnia also remain locked, meaning residents of the country cannot leave.

During the war over 2 million civilians were displaced from their homes and a large majority of those killed were also civillians. During the Srebrenica massacre in Bosnia over 8,000 men and boys were killed during July of 1995.

Zaim Pasic's account of how he fled Bosnia during the war.

If you have the time watch the BBC documentary, A Cry From the Grave. In total it is 90 minutes long but definately worth it. I have added it to my videos section.

There is also currently an initiative trying to bring Bosnian refugees back to the country.

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Strangers offering her the chance of a lifetime, to provide for herself and her family, approach a young girl living on the streets in Mexico. She is lured with the promise of money, clothing, shelter and food; all she has to do is leave with these strangers.

What she is not being told: She will make her money from sex.

Another young Mexican girl dreams of life in the United States, where she can make money unimaginable to her in Mexico. She will be able to send money home and maybe even help her family members come into the country, so their lives can be improved. She is approached by human traffickers who promise her this life she dreams of, they will help her cross the border and get her setup for her new life in Estados Unidos. 

What she is not told: Her border crossing debt will be paid with sex.

In June 2007 The San Antonio Express News reported the details of three girls who were involved in a human trafficking case in San Antonio.

"The 'boss' who had them strip, inspected their bodies and told them they were going to be having sex with men for up to five years to pay off their smuggling debt. The 'boss' said he had paid $3,000 apiece for two of the girls and said he would pay even more to get them ready for other men."

The U.S. State Department reports that around 17,000 people are being trafficked between Mexico and the U.S. every year, in what they call "Modern Day Human Slavery."

This issue was brought to my attention when I watched the movie Trade. It is about a young Mexican girl who is stolen and trafficked in the U.S. This issue robs people of their innate rights as a human being, is under reported and heart breaking.

Fields of Shame

Human Trafficking The Salvation Army Canada's Project Mexico

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