· August, 2007

Stories about Citizen Media from August, 2007

Mauritania : Ignorance and Tradition

  30 August 2007

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Generously endowed women are favored in Mauritania. The fatter the woman, the more beautiful she is thought to be. Being big is also a sign of wealth and the search for beauty and signs of exterior wealth leads to some unorthodox methods...

Chinese cartoon cops patrolling websites

  29 August 2007

From September, 1st, Beijing’s new virtual cops will be active on 13 of China’s portals, including China’s biggest blog-hosting services, Sohu.com and Sina.com. By the end of the year, the virtual police’s patrols are expected to cover all websites registered with Beijing servers.

South Africa: Creepy confession

23 August 2007

Crimexposouthafrica writes about Juan Uys, the man who was leading the campaign to turn away tourists: “After months of having denied it, Uys told the Cape Times he had been behind the Crimexposouthafrica.net website that urged tourists not to visit the country until the government acted to curb crime.”

Philippines: Ninoy Aquino's Last Words

  23 August 2007

On the death anniversary of Philipino Leader Ninoy Aquino, Or Awesome Planet posts the text of last unread speech of the leader. Ninoy Aquino returned from exile to Philippines only to be assassinated at the airport.

Blogging for democracy around the world

  22 August 2007

Antony Loewenstein is a Sydney-based freelance journalist, author and blogger. He is currently writing a book on "Democracy and Blogging" and recently traveled to Cuba, Egypt, Iran, Syria, Saudi Arabia and China to meet with bloggers.

Russia: Neo-Nazi Execution Video

  18 August 2007

One of the most discussed topics in the Russian blogosphere last week was a graphic video of what appeared to be the execution of two ethnically non-Russian men by masked figures claiming to be members of a Russian neo-Nazi group. Anton Nossik, a representative of the company that oversees LiveJournal's Russian segment, blogs about the Russian authorities' irrational reaction to the video.

Caribbean: Bracing for Hurricane Dean

  17 August 2007

The Caribbean blogosphere is abuzz over the impending arrival of Hurricane Dean, the first official hurricane of the season: Steve's Dominica reports: “Dean will be passing over us around 6am on Friday. We'll start to feel the winds from midnight tonight…” Steve manages to venture out, however and posts a...

Kyrgyzstan: SCO summit

  9 August 2007

The members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) will send their heads of state to Kyrgyzstan next week. While the Kyrgyz bloggers are amazed by the beautification of their capital ahead of the summit, Western bloggers ponder the significance of the SCO's growth.

Central Asia: Cultural intelligence

  9 August 2007

Nathan Hamm shares his thoughts on a New York Times article which argues that while knowledge of the nomadic social legacies of the Central Asian countries is important, an overemphasis on “cultural intelligence” can lead to misguided and stereotypical policy analysis of the region.

Barbados: Crop Over Marred by Crashes

  4 August 2007

Crop Over is one of Barbados' most beloved festivals. But the event that grabbed headlines this year was not the opening gala or the Pic-O-De-Crop calypso competition. It was the terrible bus crash that claimed the lives of six Barbadians as they made their way to the Party Monarch Finals. The nation was suddenly thrust into mourning and Barbadian bloggers have been extremely vocal about it...

Caribbean: Emancipation Day

  1 August 2007

Today is Emancipation Day. On August 1, one hundred and seventy three years ago, freedom from slavery was won in the Caribbean – and Caribbean bloggers still have a lot to say about it… Jamaican blogger Geoffrey Philp sets the tone by quoting one of the most beloved lines from...