· February, 2009

Stories about Citizen Media from February, 2009

Bahrain: “Just Ban It”

  18 February 2009

Bahraini blogger The Dude is frustrated: “Our ‘parliament’, in their infinite wisdom, have decided that they can best serve society by banning everything and anything that they disagree with, for reasons that they clearly invent.”

Caribbean, USA: Stanford Charged with Fraud

  18 February 2009

Fresh on the heels of the latest regional financial meltdown comes another: news that U.S. billionaire Allen Stanford has been slapped with charges for investment fraud - more than 8 billion dollars' worth. The potential fallout for West Indies cricket appears to be concerning Caribbean bloggers as much as the economic ramifications.

Cambodia: Pushing for a more organic future

  18 February 2009

Bloggers at CAAI News Media and Khmer Stars feature a Phnom Penh Post article on the slow food movement that ran on February 10, 2009. The article discusses Slow Food's philosophy of creating food in a good, clean and fair manner and how that philosophy is applied in Cambodia. The...

Japan: Transgender Man to Receive Compensation As a Male. Surprised?

  18 February 2009

The Okayama District Court has ruled that calculations of estimated lost earnings for a transgender man suffering severe aftereffects from a traffic accident be based on average wages for an adult male, even though he is registered as a woman in the national family registry. Bloggers reflect on gender identity and sexual identity, income disparities between men and women, and the country's recent "onee boom".

Cambodia: Reactions as Duch opens Khmer Rouge Tribunal

  18 February 2009

Kaing Guek Eav, known as Duch, stands trial today at the UN-supported Khmer Rouge Genocide Tribunal in Phnom Penh for war crimes and crimes against humanity. Duch headed the infamous Tuol Sleng prison in Phnom Penh, where over 12,000 people died, according to the Guardian. KI-Media leads with a story...

Costa Rica: Twitter and Who Wants to be a Millionaire?

  18 February 2009

Users of the Twitter in Costa Rica have been tuning in to the local version of the television program “Who Wants to be a Millionaire?” With the tag #qqsm, they have been microblogging about the program, chatting and discussing the questions and even seeking answers to the questions that stump them.

French Caribbean: Strikers Bloggers

  17 February 2009

Nowadays, no mass movement can ignore the importance of public relations and the social crisis in Martinique and Guadeloupe is no exception, according to Collectif5février [Fr, Martinique] and LKP and Elie Domota [Fr, Guadeloupe].

France, French Caribbean: Mobilization in Paris

  17 February 2009

It has often been said that l'Ile de France (Paris and its surroundings) is the Fifth French Overseas Department, due to its huge population of French Guianese, Guadeloupeans, Martinicans and Reunionese. In this announcement published by CaribCreoleOne, a group called Continuité LKP [Fr] invites the diaspora to march in Paris...

Blogging Gives Kenyan Poetry Larger Meaning And Exposure

  17 February 2009

Njeri Wangare is a Kenyan poet and blogger based in Nairobi, Kenya. I recently interviewed her at Nairobi Java House in downtown Nairobi and later continued the interview via email. In this interview, Njeri discusses how she has been using her blog, Kenya Poet, to promote artists and art scene in Kenya. Through her blog, she says, she has given Kenyan poetry a larger meaning and exposure.

Kenya: Urgent Translocation of the Lelwel Hartebeest

  17 February 2009

At the close of 2008, squatters who had been evicted from the Mount Kenya and Aberdare forests about two decades ago in Kenya were allocated plots a section, Sector D, of the expansive Solio Ranch in Laikipia. The 15,500 acres Sector D is, however, home to 480 Lelwel hartebeest ;...

China: “Stay away!” Vice president Xi warned in Mexico

  17 February 2009

Xi Jinping (习近平), the Chinese vice president, is widely predicted as the next chairman of China, the successor of Hu Jintao. On Feb 11, during his visit to Mexico, he gave a speech to overseas Chinese there. His address includes a passage as a harsh criticism against foreign intervention, which...

Japan: Hetalia Axis Powers and the limits of parody

  17 February 2009

Hetalia, a satirical manga set mainly during the Second World War and featuring national protagonists of that era, has attracted attention among both domestic and international audiences for its caricature of world nations. In this post, read reactions in translation from bloggers in both Japan, where the manga originated, and in Italy, the country most strongly ridiculed.

Armenia-Azerbaijan: High-profile assassinations

  17 February 2009

On 3 February, less than a month before the first anniversary of post-election violence in Yerevan, an Armenian Deputy Police Chief was gunned down. Eight days later, and five weeks before a constitutional referendum to eliminate presidential term limits, the head of the Azerbaijani Air Force was killed. Bloggers naturally wondered who was behind both assassinations.

USA: Native Americans, “Yes we can”

  17 February 2009

Kept invisible for centuries, Native Americans in the United States are increasingly using blogs and online citizen media to promote and preserve their rights and traditional ways of life. With the election of President Awe Kooda Bilaxpak Kuuxshish (Barack Obama’s adopted Crow Tribe name) indigenous peoples see new reasons to be optimistic.

Arab World: Gasping for Air!

  16 February 2009

A massive dust storm engulfed the entire Arabian peninsula, leaving the people of Bahrain, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Iraq and the United Arab Emirates, gasping for air. Here are some videos, photographs and blog entries on the crazy weather, which was unusual for this time of the year.

Global: Appointment of Saudi Arabia's First Female Deputy Minister Makes Waves

  16 February 2009

As millions of women the world over marked Valentine’s Day with gifts from their loved ones, one woman - in a country that has banned the holiday and labels it a ‘sin’ - has good reason to never forget February 14, 2009. Meet Noura Al Fayez, teacher extraordinaire, a product of the US education system, who last Saturday became the first ever woman deputy minister in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Eunice del Rosario round up local and international reactions to the appointment.

Guadeloupe, Martinique: Farewell Mr. N'Diaye

  16 February 2009

Martinican blogger Imaniyé and Guadeloupean B.World Connection both pay homage to Boubacar Joseph Ndiaye, who recently passed away. He was the Conservator of Gorée Island and instrumental in making French West Indians go back through the Door of No Return in the late 1990's.

Armenia: New and old traditions mix on St. Valentine's Day

  15 February 2009

Founded in 301 AD, Armenia’s longest surviving institution, the Apostolic Church, is considered the world’s oldest national Christian order. But, over 1,700 years years later, pagan traditions remain alive in the country even if now absorbed into the Christian calendar. While much of the world marked St. Valentine's day, Armenians also celebrated one such tradition -- Trndez.