Stories about Weblog from June, 2008
EmPivot: Green media aggregator
EmPivot is a website made for sharing videos with a specific theme: environment. This green-related media content is added to the website so that people, organizations and companies can connect with each other with this same interest between them. EmPivot, as they explain on their website, comes from the word...
Kuwait: $10,000 Car Treat!
Would you spend $10,000 getting your car waxed? I know I wouldn't - but Lebanese blogger Mark, who lives in Kuwait, draws our attention to someone who did just that.
Blogger of the Week: Solana Larsen
This week's blogger of the week is Solana Larsen, who is celebrating her one-year anniversary as managing editor of Global Voices Online this month. Described as 'cool, calm and collected', read on to see what makes Solana tick!
Kyrgyzstan: A Nation Is Grieving for Chingiz Aitmatov
Ben Paarmann writes in honor of Kyrgyzstan author Chingiz Aitmatov who died on Tuesday this week, at the age of 79. "Thanks to Chingiz Aitmatov, Central Asian traditions, lifestyles, myths - but most importantly - a transcendental Central Asian "feeling" became part of Soviet culture, known and celebrated beyond the borders of the former empire." writes Paarmann.
Japan: Reflections on the Akiba Massacre (Part 1)
When all the dust had settled and the knife rampage in Tokyo's Akihabara district last Sunday, which took the lives of seven people and left 17 injured, had come to a close, many were left wondering what it all really meant. In this post, bloggers offer their perspectives about what may have driven Tomohiro Kato to kill and injure so many people.
Cape Verde: Teenage, pregnant and banned from school
The close-knit Cape Verdean blogosphere has launched a campaign against a school decision to ban a student girl on the grounds of "childbirth". An online petition demanding a special framework for pregnant girls at school, which has been organized by the bloggers, is rapidly growing in support.
Malaysia: Escalating fuel protests
Fuel protests are escalating in Malaysia today. A few days ago, the opposition managed to gather thousands of people in the streets as protest to the Malaysian government's move to reduce fuel subsidies and raise fuel prices.
Korea: Myungbak Castle
The biggest candlelight vigil against policies of the new government started from the US-Korea beef trade was over on the 10th of June. Hot issues now are how the government reacted to the demonstration and how demonstrators responded to the government. The protests come on the 21st anniversary of demonstrations...
“Beware of Egyptian Men,” says the Canadian Embassy
Back in December 2007, I was almost crucified for writing a post entitled: Relationshsips Warning: Do not date Egyptian Men. In that article, I said: Because of the nature of my work in the tourism sector, I am used to hearing that this or that country has issued a travel...
Pakistan: On Polio
CHUP! on the issue of polio in Pakistan.
Caucasus: Armenian & Georgian Blogosphere Assessed
Following last weekend's BarCamp in Tbilisi, one of the event's main organizers, Giga Paitchadze, briefly considers its success and provides a small glimpse into the Georgian blogosphere. Also known as DvOrsky, the blogger claims to be the oldest in the country. Global Voices Online interviewed Paitchadze after the Caucasus BarCamp.
Walk like an Egyptian … Marry like an Egyptian
Why are Egyptian men so special? Why is marrying a foreigner shunned by society? And how difficult it is for an Egyptian woman married to a foreigner to obtain an ID card in Egypt? Marwa Rakha looks at the experiences of Egyptian female bloggers living abroad for answers to these questions and more.
Peru: Pointing Out Errors in the New Indiana Jones Movie
Mexican music in an Andean market, misplaced cities, and negative stereotypes of Peruvians are some of the complaints made by Peruvian bloggers in response to the new Indiana Jones movie. Many bloggers have taken these glaring errors very seriously, but others think that movies should entertain, and not teach history (Spoiler alert).
Brazil: Judges can't tell YouTube from U2
The Brazilian Superior Electoral Court held yesterday a session to conclude the resolution regulating the use of the Internet in the 2008 local elections campaign later this year. According to Judge George Marmelstein, who watched the session in person, "Youtube was turned into U2" by the ill-informed judges in charge.
Blogger witnesses whales beaching in Madagascar
The mass stranding of at least one hundred melon-headed whales were reported in the mangrove of Antsohihy Bay (Northwest region of Madagascar) in the first week of June. Harinjaka and the non-governmental organization Fanamby were among the first to report (fr) and publish photos (mg) of this ecological disaster. The...
The myriad voices of Pakistani blogosphere
Pakistan's growing blogosphere presents a kaleidoscope of the complex, contradictory developments within the country. The country is in the grip of a major movement for upholding the rule of law. Some say it is the finest moment in our history while others term it as yet another agent of instability....
Morocco: Resisting Daylight Savings
The modern concept of Daylight Savings Time was conceived by William Willett in 1905 and was first initiated by Germany in 1916. Most of the world does not participate in Daylight Savings Time, and until recently, Morocco was no exception. This year, however, the Moroccan government decided to re-introduce DST.
Saudi Arabia: The Hijab and France
France banned students in its schools from wearing any religious symbols and dress denoting religious affiliations - including the Islamic headscarf or the Hijab for women - in 2004. Saudi woman are now protesting against the ruling, say bloggers.
China: Olympic outhouses catch on fire, explode
The 24 Hours Online blogger Laohu ‘Tiger Temple’ Miao, who spent months earlier this year blogging the stories of destitute Beijing residents whose makeshift homes were harmonized to make way for the Olympics brings us a post today about a fire yesterday not far from the Olympic Bird Nest which...
Colombia: The struggles of Barrancabermeja documentary
This nine part documentary created by Taline Haytayan of her experience as part of the Peace Brigades International organization in the strife ridden Barrancabermeja region of Colombia captured my attention throughout. It follows the Feminine Popular Organization (OFP) group which works together to prevent violence against women and violent conflict...
Kyrgyzstan: First Summer Events
There was a recent Miss Tourism Kyrgyzstan pageant, held on the eve of summer. Some bloggers have visited this contest and published photos of the event. The chosen Miss Tourism and other participants of the contest didn’t impress Kyrgyz bloggers. Blogger baisalov wrote [ru]: Miss Tourism looks like Filipino and...
