· October, 2006

Stories about Freedom of Speech from October, 2006

Dispatch from Uganda

  13 October 2006

Peace talks continue in Juba, Sudan, between the Government of Uganda and the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA). Ngomrom faults the Government of Uganda and Government of Southern Sudan (GOSS) of lacking seriousness in the talks with the LRA: Why would anybody even consider that the peace talks proceed with ICC...

China: the politics of spoof culture

  13 October 2006

An article written by me at interlocals.net on the cultural and political background of internet spoofs, especially in relation to the reinvention of the Red Classics (revolution propaganda films).

Tajikistan: Uncensored

  12 October 2006

Alexander Sadikov reports that the Tajik government has bowed to pressure and lifted its block on some websites that report information critical of the government.

Arabisc: Ramadan, War, Freedom and Other Issues

  12 October 2006

With all Muslim countries marking the Holy Month of Ramadan, UAE blogger Bin Kerishan, wonders why people fast. كل العبادات تسبب للانسان الاما و معاناه كالحج و الصلاه و الصيام و الاخير من اقساها و اكثرها ضررا على صحته.. لماذا لا يكون الطقس الديني مسليا؟ كالذهاب لملاقاة الاصدقاء في المقهى...

China: fairness and justice

  11 October 2006

Ai wei wei discusses the way how the government deal with fairness and justice by presenting two legal cases: Let us discuss fairness and equality, the foundations for social morality. Democracy and checks and balances are the basic conditions for guaranteeing fairness and justice. Short of these basic conditions, any...

China: Youth, too much free time

  11 October 2006

Obscurity is here to stay for the residents of a distant northern Chinese town, it seems, judging from a post this week from Chongqing-based blogger-journalist Ran Yunfei. 中国的县之多,从未听说过某一县,当然不足为奇。比如山西的方山县,我就从未听说过。但最近这个县的县委书记张国彪来了个铁腕政策,打着为保护未成年学生的幌子,关掉该县县城所有网吧,干涉商人经商之自由,以及人们了解信息之自由。还被许多人赞美,这真是滑天下之大稽。 There are many counties in China. To have never heard of a certain country is of course nothing strange. Shanxi‘s Fangshan county,...

Russia: Journalist's Death and the Country's Future

  11 October 2006

President Vladimir Putin said this (RUS) about Anna Politkovskaya's murder in an interview with Suddeutsche Zeitung Tuesday: I have to say that her political influence (and I think that the experts will agree with me) was insignificant inside the country, and, most likely, she was more noticeable in the human...

Ethiopia's bloggers emerge refreshed after rainy season

  11 October 2006

Ethiopia's bloggers emerged refreshed from their long rainy season with a series of dazzling posts on everything from Somalia to stolen secondhand books. For once there was no unifying theme – because there was just so much to catch up on as the sun came up after four months of...

Kurdistance

  11 October 2006

I choose to begin this week's article with a disclaimer which is spawned in response to comments I received on last week's edition of Kurdistance: the contents of my articles are not of my own opinion, but rather the opinions of the bloggers that I cover. I try to remain...

China: wikipedia unblocked?

  11 October 2006

Many people find out that they can visit wikipedia since yesterday. Shanghaiist also tests it but not sure how long will it sustain. .

Iran: New Research about Iranian Blogs

  10 October 2006

In Iranian Truth, Celine Petrossian shares her research about Iranian blogs. Researcher says without a doubt, blogs have allowed Iranians to connect with their homeland and cultural traditions and freely discuss political, cultural and social issues on a transnational level.

Syria: Blogger Blocked in Syria

  10 October 2006

Bloggers in Syria are puzzled by the new move from the Syrian Government to block access to all .blogspot blogs, although access to the main www.blogger.com is still available… The service is blocked through all Syrian ISPs including private one AYA, reports Amr.

Russia: “Russophile-Russophobe” Divide

  10 October 2006

David McDuff of A Step At A Time responds to La Russophobe, explaining the trouble with the “‘Russophile-Russophobe’ debate”: “…the character of the present “Russophile-Russophobe” divide, complex, call it what you will, is similarly based on emotion and personal animosity, rather than on substantial intellectual content. Thus, the movement of...