Stories about History from April, 2007
Russia: More on Mstislav Rostropovich
Another personal reflection on Mstislav Rostropovich, written by an anonymous contributor to Robert Amsterdam's blog – “who as a young musician had the distinct honor of personally meeting the great Russian master.”
Russia: Mstislav Rostropovich
Megan Case shares a personal memory of Mstislav Rostropovich, who died in Moscow last week.
Japan: Media has its eyes wide shut
Ampontan posted a detailed and scathing attack on American media (notably CNN and AP) for their failure to catch the “story staring them in the face”: “In the past two days, Prime Minister Abe and the government of Japan just issued its Declaration of Independence from the legacy of World...
Japan: Why are checks not used in Japan?
Joe at Japan Law Blog explains the reasons why, unlike in many other countries, in Japan checks never caught on: “Japan has an entire legal structure for the payment systems familiar to Americans and Europeans. Yet if you live in Japan all your life, you may never write a check...
Japan: Interview with Sankei Shimbun Editor about Comfort Women Issue
Trans Pacific Radio reports on an interview with Sankei Shimbun Editor Yoshihisa Komori, conducted in late-March for the PBS series Foreign Exchange with Fareed Zakaria, on the “Comfort Women” issue. TPR notes that “three things struck me [about Komori]: He looks off camera quite a bit, he brings up every...
Hong Kong: Hollywood Star Chow Yun Fat Supports Queen's Pier Preservation
Citizen reporters at inmediahk.net put up an exclusive report, with youtube clip (zh), on how Chow Yun Fat visited the Queen's Pier at 5:30am this morning (April 28), to show his support for preserving the historical landmark, Queen's Pier, in Situ. An English version of the report can be found...
Turkey is Typing: The Killings in Malatya
"A handful of monsters walked into a Bible publisher in the Turkish city of Malatya the other day," writes one blogger, describing one of the tragedies which stunned Turkey this week. The brutal killings of three Christian missionaries at a Bible publishing house in Malatya has bloggers across the nation mourning the display of violent intolerance and contrasting the established sanctity of nationhood with the dire need for multi-religious acceptance.
Estonia: “A Russian Rebellion”
As Tallinn seems to have entered the second night of rioting over the removal of a Soviet war memorial, here's a blogger's recap (with photos, RUS, by LJ user mrprophet) of what happened the previous night: A Russian rebellion Today I've been to a true Russian rebellion, senseless and relentless....
France: What You May Not Have Read About Voltaire
Racisme et Histoire: Le Tabou posts a collection of quotes from some of France's most famous philosophers, writers, and politicians (e.g., Voltaire, Ferry, De Gaulle) you might not read in history books. “I repeat, the super races have a right, because they have only one duty. They have the duty...
Papua New Guinea: Remembering The Veterans
On ANZAC day, Islandbaby remembers the unacknowledged veterans who fought the Japanese in the Second World War. “And this year I Remember. I remember those who fought with the ANZACs and remain unacknowledged by many. Specifically the Australian Aboriginal veterans and from my corner of the world, the 55,000 fuzzy...
Japan: Thoughts on the Abe “apology”
Japan, Beyond the Tamagawa reminds readers, with respect to recent comments by Prime Minsiter Abe Shinzo about the Comfort Women issue, that Abe “didn't intend [his comments] to raise such a stink. He did say what he personally has said he believed for years. Japan's Imperial Army did not force...
Kurdistance: A Week Like Any Other
The news coming out of the Kurdish blogs this week is as varied as the landscape of Kurdistan itself. From predictions on Syrian Kurd alliances with Israel, to censorship in Turkey; from explorations of Northern Iraq, to essays on intolerance, the Kurdish bloggers cover it all. But for this week, I think we will begin with why, to Kurds, April is considered as the "Bride of the Year".
Africa: the cultural construction of African homosexuality
Gukira discusses “the cultural construction of African homosexuality”: If we are to understand the cultural construction of African homosexuality, it must be from within the prison. Once we understand sodomy as a tool of political repression, or, more precisely, as being intertwined with political repression, then we can understand, if...
Cameroon: Autobiographies, biographies, and memoirs from Cameroon
Dibussi Tande on Cameroonian national figures with autobiographies, biographies, and memoirs: “For example, Albert Mukong and Christian Tobie Kuo both wrote two volumes of their memoirs. Same with Jean Martin Tchaptchet (who shared that infamous last meal with nationalist leader Felix Moumie in Geneva in 1960), who has published two...
Latvia: Roma Resources
TOL's Romantic posts a link to the collection of resources on Latvia's Roma.
Russia: The Problem With Archives
Sean's Russia Blog writes about multiple problems that scholars face when dealing with the Russian archives.
Conference on France's Support of African Dictatorship
Le Pangolin has been posting video from a conference called “From ‘françafrique’ to ‘Mafiafrique'” which looks at France's post-colonial support of African dictators.
Syrian Independence Day and Elections
Syria celebrated it's independence and Parliamentary elections with a lot of official fanfare, but very little excitement from bloggers as a reported two per cent of the constituents turned up at the polling stations. Yazan Badran sums up the reactions as bloggers debate the results and updates us about the jailing of a prominent human rights lawyer.
Hong Kong: Queen's Pier Last Night
Plastichk has written a citizen report on the last night of Queen's Pier and criticised the government's refusal to preserve the pier in situ (zh). The Pier is a colonial symbol during the British rule in Hong Kong. There is a on-going citizen campaign to preserve the pier.
China: Olympic Politics and Protests at the Roof of the World
The Granite Studio brought into focus Beijing's plan to include the summit of Mt. Everest as a stop for the Olympic torch. Some Tibetan activists staged a protest at the roof of the world in response to such move.
Japan: Abe apologizes to US media, not Asian people
On the apologies made by Abe in an interview last weekend with Newsweek, Amaki Naoto, a former Japanese diplomat who resigned protesting Japan's involvement in the U.S. attack on Iraq, comments that in apologizing about the Comfort Women issue Abe was “putting aside his political belief” in order simply to...
