Stories about History from February, 2007
Lebanon: Academia, Agriculture and Construction
Let us begin this week’s roundup of the Lebanese blogosphere with non–political posts. Let us start from a post about two Lebanese salads that are used as appetizers during meals: Skylark shows us (Fr) how to prepare Fattush and Tabboule, which are two delicious Lebanese salads that are usually found...
Syrian Blogsphere: Free Kareem, Towards a Democratic Syria, Arabism and More
The Syrian blogsphere reacted to the news about the sentencing of Egyptian blogger Kareem Nabil Sulaiman with disgust. Abu Kareem from Levantine Dreamhouse wrote… The language of the charges is sickeningly familiar. It is the language that paranoid authoritarian governments use when they feel threatened, when someone tells the TRUTH....
Lebanon's War, Again
How will the Lebanese get over their past if they don't discuss it, says Syrian blogger Abu Kareem. “Many if not most Lebanese children get their education in non-secular schools that teach different versions of the history of Lebanon. All schools, however, seem to agree on one thing; when it...
China: Ming Dynasty
Granite studio picks up a post in DANWEI about why Ming Dynasty has become so popular in China and carries on the discussion from a historical point of view.
China: Chinese People Misread The World, Especially Japan
ESWN translates an article written by Wang Jinsi, a director of the China War-of-Resistance-against-Japan Historical Society, which explains why Chinese people tend to misread the world, especially Japan. Some hostilities are self-generated, such as a BBS post in 2000.
Touring Libyan Blogs: Between history, hair, leadership, cleaning the floor and many more stories
Most of us have studied some history, many of us think we know history, but the majority of us are really ignorant about large parts of our own history. That is why the personal accounts of travellers a la Ibn Battuta style are so important to record the making of...
Russia: One Blogger's Dream Come True
LJ user bogomolov (Aleksandr Bogomolov, a Russian journalist) shares this story about a dream come true (RUS): An old joke, very good, very clever: Two Soviet violinists are in the same train compartment, on the way back home from abroad, from an international music competition. The first one, a “plainclothes”...
Taiwan: Flying Saucer Houses
Photographed by CantikFoto In Green Bay, Taipei County, there are some abandoned houses. Due to their appearance, they have been named ‘flying saucer houses’ by many people in that area. According to Echo-Maan, who lived in that area decades ago, the houses were built around 30 years ago by Tian...
Kazakhstan, the Soviet: “Stalinkas” and “Khrushchevkas”, Afghanistan and the Red Army Holiday
Save the Houses Photo by Adam Kesher Blogger Adam Kesher is displeased: the “Stalin's” house next to his own is going to be replaced by a new fancy building. These houses, built before the Second World War (1935-1938) or after (till 1955) are notable for their scale, high ceilings so...
Haiti: Picture of 1901 Port-au-Prince
As its “historical image of the day,” Alterdestiny posts a picture of Port-au-Prince, Haiti in 1901.
Poland: Anti-Euthanasia, Anti-Missile, Anti-Semitism
The beatroot writes on one Polish man's right to die, on the U.S. anti-missile systems, and on the anti-Semitic writings of the Polish education minister's father. As always, the discussion area is bursting with comments.
Europe: Pre-Lent Celebrations
Wu Wei writes on Pancakes racing in Britain on Shrove Tuesday, Uzgavenes in Lithuania, Maslenitsa in Russia, and Kurentovanje in Slovenia. Nami-Nami shares a recipe of Estonian lenten buns.
Bosnia & Herzegovina: Dayton Accords Discrimination Case
Neretva River discusses a case brought before the European Court for Human Rights: “Sarajevo's Jewish community, led by Jakob Finci, is arguing that the Dayton Accords are discriminatory as they de facto bar from high public office members of minority communities that happen not to fit nicely into ‘Croat,’ ‘Muslim’...
Serbia: Kosovo “Deadlock”
Balkan Baby writes on the Kosovo “deadlock.”
Former Soviet Union: Syllabus on Deported Peoples
J. Otto Pohl's “imaginary” syllabus #4: “Deported Nationalities in Kazakhstan and Central Asia.”
Japan and Korea: Takeshima/Dokdo dispute and cat's day
Feb 22 is is Takeshima Day , but also the cat's day in Japan; as James in Japan Prob said, cat's day is more excited than the Japan-Korea dispute over Takeshima and Dokdo. The blogger also post a cat's day video on his post.
Israel: A Predictable Misunderstanding
Israeli Blogger, from Thoughts from Israel, describes the latest escalation between the Arabs and Israelis over Al Aqsa as a “predictable misunderstanding.” “And so, once again, a stupid and inconsiderate action of some office in the Israeli government is perceived by Arabs as warmongering, thereby causing Arab panic and violence,...
Russia: Vladimir Vladimirovich™ Translated
Scraps of Moscow translates three episodes of Vladimir Vladimirovich™ that “deal with last week's promotions of Sergei Ivanov and Ramzan Kadyrov.” Also, see photos of the Soviet-time soda machines taken in Moldova and Uzbekistan.
Eastern Europe: Dubious Architecture
Copydude – and Vilhelm Konnander, in a comment – discuss the House of Soviets in Kaliningrad, Russia, the Resurrection Church in Kaunas, Lithuania, and Konstantinov’s Central Post Office in Skopje, Macedonia, as well as a few other “dubious” architectural monuments.
Jamaica: Henry Fowler
Kia pays tribute to the recently deceased Henry Fowler, founder of Jamaica's exclusive Priory School, “an old-school Jamaican of colonial days, the sort of person that it is now fashionable to blame for all our ills.”
Uganda: The Last King of Scotland
Ethan Zuckerman's reaction after watching The Last King of Scotland: “I saw The Last King of Scotland last night and had been prepared to be pissed off about yet another Africa film with a white protagonist. But Forest Whitaker gives an absolutely extraordinary performance as Idi Amin.”
