Stories about Ideas from April, 2007
Arabeyes: What Makes a Good Blog and a Good Doctor?
From discussing what makes a good blog and who is a good doctor, we move to see the reaction of a father whose son is used as a human shield and why a blogger refuses to reply to comments on his blog while he is on holiday as we skim blogs from Tunisia to Kuwait this week.
Bermuda: Measuring Tourism
“I'm sure tourism numbers are up. And I'm glad that we seem to be making some gains. But…the question is ‘by how much?'”. Politics.bm has some suggestions for measuring tourist arrivals in Bermuda.
Bahamas: Mapping Perspectives
Bahamian Nicolette Bethel, linking to a blog called Strange Maps, muses on the fact that “mapping is an exercise not only in making sense out of the world, but in dominating the world. A map, like a book, is not a fact; it is an interpretation of a fact, a...
Aruba, Bahamas, Trinidad & Tobago: Happy Earth Day
Arubagirl, Trinidadian blogger Elspeth at Now is Wow and Lynn Sweeting from the Bahamas all recognize Earth Day.
Oman: Gay Marriages a Rumour
Omani blogger Nabhan Abdullatif gets the shock of his life when he hears a fellow student announce in class at his Jordan university that gay marriages are allowed in his country. “He basically went on and on about how gay couples from Kuwait or Saudi Arabia come to Oman to...
Egypt: Trick Question
Egyptian blogger Freesoul poses a tricky situation here. See if you can rescue the damsel in distress.
Israel: On Death and Nostalgia
Tel Aviv-based blogger Yael writes about death, resurrection, nostalgia and the future in the first of a series of posts.
Bahamas, Trinidad & Tobago: More Thoughts on VT
Posting from Trinidad, Thebookmann is concerned that the media has played into the VT gunman's “sick little cold, dead hands” by broadcasting footage of the killer “unleashing his hateful rage to a camera. The airing of such imagery is a grave mistake…something that I have seen for too long in...
Egypt: Islamofascism Awareness Day
Issander El Amrani, who is based in Egypt, tells us that yesterday was the Islamofascism Awareness Day!
Trinidad & Tobago: R-E-S-P-E-C-T
Trinidadian blogger Elspeth at Now is Wow responds to a comment on a post she had written about American rapper Akon's appalling behaviour on stage with a female fan, in the context of Elton John's upcoming performance at the Tobago Jazz Festival: “Yes, women should respect themselves and not cheaply...
Dominica: Looking for Wide Sargasso Sea
Bronte Blog reprints an article by Ellen Vanstone about Dominican author Jean Rhys and her acclaimed novel, Wide Sargasso Sea.
Bahrain: Land of Missed Opportunities
Silly Bahraini Girl laments that her country – Wonderland – is a land of missed opportunities – “unless of course you are a drug baron, a high-class prostitute or an Islamic fanatic.. or better yet – all THREE together!”
Barbados: The Meaning of Being Caribbean
Barbadian blogger Gallimaufry links to BBCCaribbean.com as West Indians the world over answer the question, “What does it mean to be Caribbean?”
Guyana: Parent-Child Relationship
“Everyday, in between silly mother-daughter struggles, we insist on taking care of one another…sometimes we appreciate, sometimes resent because it feel so over-protective; other times, we take it for granted.” Guyana-Gyal examines the parent-child relationship.
South Korea: The Politics of Pride and Shame
Michael Hurt discussed about the politics of pride and shame in South Korea society. His prediction on the social and media reaction on the recent events at Virginia Tech, with the mass murder-suicide of Cho Seung-Hui is very accurate: There is going to be serious national shame, expressed through the...
Visiting the Peruvian Blog Village
This time around we'll visit some blogs that we haven't seen before. Blogs of another type; the sort that perhaps do not catch you attention at first glace if your interests lie in politics or cyber-activism, but blogs that have their place and their followers just the same. We must always walk with a careful eye; sometimes the diamonds are where we least expected. So let's explore a little.
Cuba: Political Balance Por Favor
The publicly-funded STV network in Sweden last year broadcast a four-hour show in honour of Fidel Castro's 80th birthday. Child of the Revolution has discovered that “19 formal complaints were lodged with the Swedish Broadcasting Commission…The regulator concluded that the ‘theme evening’ had breached a requirement that television productions be...
Jamaica: Decolonization of the Mind
Further to his post on Frances-Anne Solomon, who called creation “a form of terror, particularly when you come from a colonial context”, Geoffrey Philp examines fellow Jamaican Olive Senior's poem Colonial Girls School, which grapples with decolonization of the mind.
Bahrain: Ambassador Attends Passover Dinner
Bahraini blogger Silver reports that his country's Ambassador attended a Jewish Seder dinner to mark Passover in Washington DC, US. He wonders what this gesture means. “(S)o is this building bridges? or going against our core beliefs ? anyone cares to comment,” he writes.
Saudi Arabia: The 1,000km Thank You
A 73-year-old Saudi man walked 1,000km to thank the Saudi King, reports the Angry Arab News Service.
Algeria: The Status of Fouad Ajami
Algerian blogger Nouri sums up his opinion on whether John Hopkins professor Fouad Ajami is more of a Shia or a nationalist when it comes to discussing the developments in Iraq.
