· January, 2007

Stories about Ideas from January, 2007

Trinidad & Tobago: A nation unravels

  31 January 2007

“How do you take back a country that at independence failed to take real responsibility for itself, whose fabric has been slowly unravelling ever since, and which now equates modernisation with a frantic rush towards industrialisation and “developed country status by 2020″?” asks Jeremy Taylor of his country, Trinidad and...

Morocco: Too Many Policemen at Airport

  30 January 2007

Adil, a Moroccan blogger who lives in Washington DC, US, says there was far too many policemen at the King Mohammed the Fifth Airport. “I believe that airport is overstaffed with police. Passengers need more service oriented ppl to guide them through the arrival than a policeman with a moustache...

Arabisc: Egyptian Bloggers Tie the Knot

  29 January 2007

Like in Egyptian movies, there is a thin line between imagination and reality in Egypt, where two politically active bloggers get close to each other at an anti-government rally, then fall in love and finally get married. Blogger Albara Ashraf reports this happy story, without failing to conjure some of...

Libya: To Return or not to Return?

  29 January 2007

The last weeks saw a variety of activities on Libyan blogs. It was the ‘end of term’ exams in Libyan schools and Khadijateri has devoted several posts to that. On the other hand, a hot topic was introduced by Nura on Ly-Hub. Ly-Hub is a blog connecting Libyan bloggers or...

China: year of the pig

  29 January 2007

The lunar new year of pig is approaching, Hayford at China History group blog writes about the meaning of pig in different cultures.

A Week Goes by in Kuwait

  27 January 2007

A couple of Kuwaitis have just participated in Gulfrun, an event which Kthekuwaiti attended, and which he described as: ” GulfRun is a yearly ‘rally’ that starts off in Kuwait with the cars going to Bahrain and back for the weekend (think mini-Gumball). The F1 circuit has been reserved for...

Cambodia: Paying Fair Wages

  25 January 2007

Diana at Cambodia Calling compares her life in her former home Singapore to her current home Cambodia. The blogger also describes why her company, a garment manufacturing unit, believes in paying fare wages to the workers.

Yazan: Arabs have an Identity Crisis

  24 January 2007

Syrian blogger Yazan thinks Arabs suffer from an identity crisis dictated by a ‘superior’ past which is crushed by an ‘inferior’ present. “A superiority, that soon begins a never-ending fight with another complex. A complex of inferiority, towards a winner West a brutally developed and civilized West,” he explains.

Turkey is Typing…the Death of Hrant Dink

  21 January 2007

While normally this column focuses on what only Turkish bloggers are saying, sometimes events happen that warrant the voices of not only Turkish points-of-views but others as well. The Death of Hrant Dink is one of those moments. As a bit of background- Hrant Dink was a Turkish-Armenian journalist and...

Jamaica, Colombia: Identity etc

  18 January 2007

In response to some questions posed to him in December, Jamaican writer Geoffrey Philp writes an open letter recounting a visit to a Colombian restaurant in Florida with his (part-Colombian) family: “Of course, I’ve chosen to blog about it and this is one way about talking about your questions, which...

Philippines: Getting a Loved One to Stop Smoking

  16 January 2007

Touched by an Angel has a post on how she helped her daughter to stop smoking. “Our children need to be taught how to help themselves. They need our love and guidance. They need consistent enforcement of boundaries, once we’ve established limits. They need a supportive nurturing environment in which...

Bahamas: Junkanoo and music

  15 January 2007

Nicolette Bethel presents a thoughtful essay deconstructing of some of the changes taking place on the musical front of in the Bahamas’ Junkanoo festival.

Iran:Iranian bloggers as pollsters

  14 January 2007

Jordan shares in Sounds Iranian blog, the idea that it is possible to use bloggers as pollsters. The blogger says I think the idea behind this sort of ‘on-the-street’ methodology is to use the blogosphere to provide a more accurate sampling of the (urban) Iranian population as a whole, rather...

Latin America: “National” Blogospheres in a Dialogic Society

9 January 2007

“Latin American blogs resemble their counterparts in the rest of the world but have a particular feature that deserves some attention. They tend to gather themselves around some sites that function as phone catalogue listings, where authors can find themselves and other bloggers under country categories, regional and even gender...

China: blog advertisement

  9 January 2007

Keso has some comments about blog advertisement and wins much echoes from other bloggers and readers: blogging will lose its fun when it is for direct income.(zh)

Libya blogs : First week of 2007

While the blogosphere is still in grips over the execution of Saddam Hussein and whether the death penalty is OK, the Libyan bloggers have moved on to different subjects. Khadijateri in facts writes about the new year resolutions .”If I was going to make any resolutions it would have to...

East Timor: Movie Reflections

  7 January 2007

Tumbleweed in Timor Lorosae reflects on the diamond industry after watching the latest hollywood movie that talks about conflict diamonds. The violence scenes in the movie also reminds her of the real-life violence that took place in East Timor last year.