· December, 2011

Stories about History from December, 2011

Singapore Memory Project

  24 December 2011

irememberSG is part of the Singapore Memory Project, a national initiative to “collect, preserve and provide access to the memories” of a nation which rose to become one of the most prosperous cities in the world.

Barbados: old-time Christmas

  23 December 2011

Barbados Underground indulges in some seasonal nostalgia and describes a traditional Christmas “the Bajan way”: “Our young ones are missing that special warmth that we made as children.”

Bermuda: military mess?

  22 December 2011

The United States maintained a military base in Bermuda for 50 years, finally departing in 1995. Who should clean up the pollution that got left behind, asks Catch a Fire? “The Americans … shouldn’t need to be told what to do…. They have no right to come and pollute our...

Brazil: Blogging on the Archives of the Dictatorship

  22 December 2011

Journalist Niara de Oliveira published quotes [pt] from a selection of blogs that participated in the fourth blogging carnival #DesarquivandoBR (Unarchiving Brazil), that took place on December 14, on opening the archives of the Brazilian Dictatorship (1964 to 1985).

CEE: More on Václav Havel and His Legacy

  22 December 2011

More posts on Václav Havel and his legacy from around the region's Anglophone blogosphere: Richard Byrne of Balkans via Bohemia; CzechFolks.com; Petr Bokuvka of The Czech Daily Word – here and here; Jeremy Druker of TOL's East of Center; Tjebbe van Tijen and Mary Kaldor for OpenDemocracy.net; Giustino of Itching...

Czech Republic: A Tribute to Václav Havel

  22 December 2011

A tribute to Václav Havel, by Luboš Motl of The Reference Frame: “[…] Havel has been an unusually strong moral autority that has influenced even people such as me who ultimately found out that they disagree with him about many pretty fundamental things. He's been proposed for a peace Nobel...

Pakistan: Journalists Are Intimidated Not To Report

  20 December 2011

Referring to Pakistan Army's propaganda war in 1971, The Terrorland comments: “Pakistani generals have never learned from the past! Today, they are repeating the same criminal strategy in Balochistan as journalists from other parts of the country can’t go in that province for reporting.”

Sidi Bouzid's Anniversary: Celebrating One Year of Arab Awakening

  17 December 2011

If you had to describe this year in one word what would it be? Leila Nachwati, who was in Tunisia two months ago to attend the Third Arab Bloggers Meeting, shares her experience in Free Tunisia and polls netizens' opinions on what word best describes the year that was since Tunisian Mohamed Bouazizi set himself on fire in protest against tyranny a year ago.

Bangladesh, Pakistan: Crowd-sourcing Stories Of December 1971

  16 December 2011

December 1971 blog is an effort by some Pakistani netizens to crowd-source personal stories of December 1971, when the Pakistan Army surrendered and Bangladesh (former East Pakistan) gained victory in their liberation war against West Pakistan. The goal is to archive the human side of the tragedy from all aspects...

United Kingdom: Video from Hitchens’ 1999 U.S. Book Tour

  16 December 2011

“Hitch Hike” is a 53-min documentary by Palash Davé about British writer Christopher Hitchens’ 1999 U.S. tour promoting his book about Bill Clinton. The full film is available for viewing on Vimeo (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3). Hitchens died on December 15, 2011.

Cuba: Food History

  14 December 2011

Iván García reviews Fidel Castro's history with “experiments”, saying: “The ex-president has put his foot in it many times. In all fields. The most painful has been in regard to food.”

Brazil: Youth Demands for “Real Democracy Now”

  13 December 2011

Brazilian journalist and blogger Lucas Morais analyzes [pt] the revolutionary movements that have spread throughout the world in 2011 and says that “this youth has increasingly become more aware of the limits of capitalist democracy, and not for nothing, it is fighting for a ‘real democracy now'”.

Estonia: Language and History

  12 December 2011

Giustino of Ithing for Eestimaa discusses Estonians’ obsession with language – and especially their own as opposed to Russian – against the backdrop of a recent interview with the country's president Toomas Ilves.