Stories from Quick Reads and Georgia
Georgia: Ancient Fortress Discovered in Tbilisi
During construction to one of Tbilisi's main streets, parts of a 5th century fortress used to defend the city were unearthed. The Young Georgians has a series of photos of the remarkable discovery, which appears on Georgian cartographer Vakkshuti's map of the capital from 1735.
Georgia: War Photography
Just before today's fourth anniversary of the August 2008 Russia-Georgia War, Georgian Photographers features a post accompanied by photos from George Tsagareli on documenting conflict in the Caucasus.
Georgia: Philanthropic Blogging
Net Prophet interviews Givi Avaliani, a Georgian blogger [GE] focusing on online campaigning and charitable activities, and who says that human rights protection and highlighting the poverty around him are his main inspirations. The Transitions Online blog says that more than 120,000 people have visited Avaliani's blog in the past...
Caucasus: Olympic Women
Ianyan introduces its readers to the female athletes representing the three countries of the South Caucasus in the Olympic games in London.
Armenia-Georgia: Typography Without Borders?
Behance features a typographic project to write the Georgian word for hello phonetically in an Armenian script stylized in such a way that it resembles Georgian. Although some letters in the Armenian and Georgian alphabets can resemble each other depending on the fonts and case or styles used, they are...
Georgia: Elections Portal Goes Online Ahead Of Parliamentary Vote
Democracy and Freedom Watch reports on the launch of an online monitoring platform ahead of parliamentary elections scheduled for October 2012. The site, Elections Portal, is available in Georgian and English at http://www.electionsportal.ge.
Caucasus: Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia Compared
Katie Going Global visits the South Caucasus and compares Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia. Assessing the three countries on many levels, the travel blog considers that Georgia is the most tourist-friendly.
Russia: Caucasus Stereotypes in Film
Global Chaos comments on a recent video report by Radio Free Europe examining changing stereotypes of the Caucasus in Russian cinema. The blog asks whether the caricatures often adopted for public diplomacy purposes are counterproductive or not.
Georgia: Men Can Wash Their Own Feet
Making Connections not only posts a recent video by Georgian bloggers against homophobia, but also one calling for gender equality in the South Caucasus country. The blog notes that the second video, featuring Georgian men saying they can wash their own feet, is in response to a comment by the...
Georgia: Bloggers Against Homophobia
Unzipped: Gay Armenia posts a video by Georgian bloggers against homophobia set to the song F*ck You by Lily Allen. The move comes less than a month after a Gay Pride march in Tbilisi, the Georgian capital, was disrupted by priests and conservative elements in society. The same month a...
Azerbaijan: British Embassy Awards 4,000th Facebook Page Member
The British Embassy in Azerbaijan has awarded the 4,000th member of its Facebook page with a certificate and a small prize. With the British Embassy in Armenia and Georgia boasting 1,526 and 2,581 likes respectively at time of writing, the announcement shows how diplomatic missions in the Caucasus are increasingly...
Caucasus: Photo Reports by a Belarusian Blogger
Ani Wandaryan (@GoldenTent) links to this photo report [ru] from Armenia by Anton Motolko, a photographer, blogger and traveller from Minsk, Belarus (LJ user toxaby, @Motolko). More of his photos [ru] – from Azerbaijan and from Georgia.
Georgia: No Sex and the City
No Sex and the City — Georgian Liberal (an oxymoron) blog comments on the physical confrontation between priests accompanying religious parents and LGBT activists marching in Tbilisi, Georgia. The blog details events as they happened, including the alleged inaction of the Georgian police when they were asked to intervene to...
Georgia: Five Dead in Flash Flood
The Young Georgians posts video of this weekend's flash flood in Tbilisi, Georgia. Five people, including two children, are reported dead.
Georgia: Lazika, Facebook, and the Constitution
Despite growing concerns about plans to build a new city on swamp land, Democracy and Freedom Watch says that Lazika will be included in the country's Constitution. With no transparency in the decision-making process, the blog sarcastically notes that for now the city exists only in the form of a...
Georgia: World Press Freedom Day Protest Demonstration
The Young Georgians posts photos and video of a protest demonstration held by journalists, bloggers and activists to mark World Press Freedom Day in Tbilisi, Georgia.
Georgia: Face Control
Evolutsia comments on a new policy of face control for entry into many of the Georgian capital's clubs. The analytical site also ponders how such a policy might affect the revenue of those Tbilisi establishments that have introduced it.
Georgia: Beyond Tbilisi
Beyond Tbilisi says that local authorities plan to clean up a river full of garbage in June. The blog run by Transparency International Georgia hopes to report on issues outside of the capital and is available in Georgian and English.
Georgia: Concerns over Lazika development
Writing on The PIK.TV blog, the channel's English-language editor, Tbilisi-based Nicholas Alan Clayton, comments on plans to construct a new city in Georgia. With little transparency in planning the Lazika development, recently referred to as an ‘instant city in a swamp’ by the New York Times, the blog says that...
Georgia: Forbes magazine accused of self-censorship
The Transparency International Georgia blog examines the case of the Georgian edition of the influential Forbes magazine following the resignation of its editor-in-chief who alleges that the magazine's publishers are practicing self-censorship ahead of parliamentary elections to be held later this year.
Georgia: Tongue-in-cheek development forecast
A satirical video posted on YouTube takes a tongue-in-cheek look at the development of Georgia ahead of parliamentary elections later this year and a presidential vote in 2013. With the current president, Milhail Saakashvili, unable to run for a third term in office it foresees him following in the footsteps...