Stories about Weblog from March, 2007
Part One: Inside the school of the Egyptian blogosphere
Source: original image from Baheyya (photoshopped), text in Arabic from Misr Digital It is being made clear almost daily that the dynamism of the Egyptian bloggers isn’t just online; the country's activist bloggers are also highly engaged on the street as well. They've been playing an active part in the...
Arabisc: Rebelling Bloggers from Syria to Tunisia
Ever heard of the rebellious bloggers? Well, this is what some bloggers in the Middle East refer to themselves because they are breaking the norm – speaking their minds on blogs without censorship or editing but paying the price for the consequences of free speech later on. Tunisian blogger Sami...
What Salvadoran bloggers are saying — about the passing of a witness
If your only source of news was the main Salvadoran newspapers, you might have missed the story. The sole survivor of a notorious massacre of civilians during El Salvador civil war passed away on March 6. On December 6, 1981, Rufina Amaya, had somehow managed to escape from the government...
Uganda: Why didn't Ugandan bloggers write about the nation's biggest story?
The Ugandan blogosphere was silent on the country's biggest story over the last few weeks. On March 5th, the Ugandan judges and lawyers went on strike after presidential security agents raided the High Court to re-arrest six treason suspects who had been granted bail. The suspects were accused of representing...
Landing at the Iraqi Blogodrome
I cannot believe it has been four years since the Iraq war started. Has it ended? I don't know but it feels more like an a lifetime has passed. In one of the rare coincidences with large parts of the media, Iraq bloggers are commemorating another anniversary of the war....
China: Book banned prior to printing
Prior to a recent reprinting, ‘A Narrow Escape From Death: My ‘Right-wing’ Life’, a book from retired Xinhua journalist Dai Huang was banned from being published by order of China's General Administration of Press and Publication (GAPP), in which Dai recounts the years during which he was cast as a...
German “Open Music” Band Dedicates a Concert for Peru
[Editors Note: The following post originally appeared on the weblog of Creative Commons Peru and was translated into english by Juliana Rincón Parra. We've already seen a rural Ecuadorean “techno-folklorist” become an international celebrity by using YouTube and a weblog. Now a small German band is reaching out to bloggers...
Kurdistance: Newroz
The vernal equinox marks the beginning of Spring in the Northern Hemisphere and the beginning of the “New Year” or Newroz for the Kurdish people. The holiday is not limited to just the Kurds as cultures from Iran, Azerbaijan, Afghanistan, Albania, India, Turkey, Zanzibar, and from various countries of Central...
Arabisc: A Mysterious Bug Gnawing at Middle Eastern Bloggers
Something is amiss on the Middle Eastern blogging scene .. and computers and modern technology are to blame. In addition to trouble with the law in their countries, which are closing in on freedom of speech and expression as I write this, bloggers have another demon to confront. Egypt‘s outspoken...
India: New Year Celebrations
New Year in March you ask? Well, yes in certain parts of India it the start of a new year since they follow a different calendar and not the Gregorian calendar that the western countries follow. Ugadi, Gudi Padwa are some of the names for the New Year celebrations in...
Sudan: ICC on War Crimes in Darfur, USS Cole, Funky Hairstyle & More
There has been quite a lot of action in the Sudanese blogosphere during the past 3 weeks. We'll start with the International Criminal Court‘s announcement which named 2 suspects accused of committing war crimes in Darfur. The Sudanese Thinker was surprised when he saw the picture of one of the...
300: More Than a Movie for Many Iranians
Cartoon by Afshin Sabouki from Project 300, an artistic response to 300, the movie. The movie “300”, based on a Frank Miller comic book, has been both a big hit at the box office and a hot topic in Iran's media, big and small. In Zack Snyder's movie, 300 Spartans...
Non-Political Reactions to Bush's Visit to Guatemala
Photo of protesters and police officers by R. Scott Lamorte (More here). Touring this week through Guatemala's blogosphere, it was interesting to read the reactions to President Bush's recent visit, which differed from the usual pronouncements against U.S. policy. Some Bloggers discussed the Hollywoodesque display of security agents, how protests...
Turkey is Typing….Business and Travel
What I thought were the interesting blog posts this week all seemed to revolve around business and travel. I think that it is the coming of spring that makes me what to run away from ordinary life. Of course, if you wish to run away to say…Turkey…blogger Talk Turkey has...
Filipino Bloggers Discuss Homeschooling
An interesting discussion on whether one should homeschool their children or send them to a school appeared on some blogs from the Philippines. A Passerby's Trail writes I am an educator and I had a lot of teaching experiences in different school levels; yet as a mom, I prefer to...
Global Voices en Français Celebrates Journée Mondiale de la Francophonie
Today is Francophonia Day. About 50 French-speaking countries and territories, some belonging to the Organisation Mondiale de la Francophonie and others not, will reflect on what it means to have French as a language –often alongside others. (Not to worry we will tell you what the bloggers said as soon...
Zimbabwe: Man killed, opposition arrested and tortured
The Zimbabwean government, backed into a desperate corner by a growing groundswell of protests, lashed out violently last week brutally crushing a “prayer meeting” planned by a coalition of civic organisations inlcuding the opposition. The fateful prayer meeting, slated for the Zimbabwe Grounds last week in the historically significant Highfields...
Brazil: Women's Petition for a ‘Right to Respond’
In order to fulfill Global Voices’ mission regarding neglected media visibility of specific groups we will focus today on a Brazilian contingent which now complains of having had — along with local big media’s complicity — it’s own annual moment of expression and manifestation snatched by the recent visit of the US president to Brazil. George W. Bush’s choice of March 8 as the start of what became known as the ‘ethanol visit‘ to Brazil ended up scrambled with the time when Brazilian Women’s Movements expect to have their voices heard by the society as a whole.
Bolivia: Taking the Coca out of Coca-Cola and Onto the Seal
Photo created by Andres Pucci and depicts a sample seal should it only contain symbols important to specific regions of Bolivia. Some weeks ago, some Bolivian bloggers became increasingly concerned whether the red, yellow and green of the Bolivian flag might be replaced with the rainbow-checkered flag called with the...
Egypt: Arrested Bloggers Released Following Constitutional Amendment Clashes
Two Three Egyptian bloggers arrested for taking part in a rally to protest constitutional amendments in Cairo have been released , along with other protesters who have been detained for their involvement in the gathering. “The 21 Kefaya detainees were finally released around 6:30pm today, after police agents at El-Dhaher...
South Asia: Cricket Victories and Upsets
The Cricket World Cup 2007 appeared to have thrown quite a few surprises up for grabs over the weekend. Ireland won the match against Pakistan, and Bangladesh won the match against India. These outcomes were rather unexpected, especially the former one. The blogosphere has been buzzing with commentary and reflection...
