Stories about Weblog from November, 2006
The Week that Was – Bolivian Blogs
Juancito Pinto was a little drummer boy, who had traded his drum for a rifle during the War of the Pacific of the 1880s. He perished at the hands of the Chilean army and his name is still synonymous with Bolivia’s long standing attempts to recuperate sovereign access to the...
Russia: Lenin's Mausoleum
Lenin's Tomb, Moscow, USSR, 1985 – by JoeBlogger Three months before the collapse of the Soviet Union, the legendary “sound-manipulator” Sergei Kuryokhin proved quite convincingly (albeit facetiously) that Vladimir Lenin had been a mushroom and a radio wave. Kuryokhin died on July 9, 1996, at the age of 42. His...
China: Touchy topics
BBS forums used to be the venue of choice to make oneself seen and heard in the Chinese blogsphere, until blogs came along and most of the biggest and best BBS names took their reputations and readers and set up their own spaces. While BBSes, some in blog+BBS hybrid form,...
The Moroccan beauty shines in France while more Moroccan bloggers “call it quit”!
It's alarming. More and more Moroccan bloggers are taking vacation from blogging! And while A Moroccan haute couture stylist displays proudly his identity by transforming a Caftan into an elegant Moroccan flag, other Moroccans questioned their belonging to a country they say is harassing their religious belief. The patriotic Caftan...
Landing at the Iraqi Blogodrome
Crimson rain,vermillion maneAnd few people walking, few people sane From Carmine and Cardinal to Persian Red To Falu to Gules to just a Red, plain! From Scarlett of screens and the Five of Maroon Alluding all voices and blurring your noon You wonder and ponder then what to do It...
Voices from Zimbabwe
It has been a busy two weeks in Zimbabwe. The major headline out of Zimbabwe over the last two weeks was the submission to President Mugabe of a vision document drawn up by Zimbabwe's churchleaders titled “The Zimbabwe We Want: Towards A National Vision for Zimbabwe“. Kubatana Blogs has a...
Arabisc: Best Blog Awards Winners and Recurring Nightmares
Arabic blogs are making their mark on the international blogging scene, with more writers and commentators taking to their keyboards and enjoying the thrill of the instant publication of their ideas away from government censorship, newspaper censorship and self-censorship! The BOBS – Best of the Blogs Awards 2006 highlighted a...
Images from Guatemala: Doña Maria
Doña Maria by James Rodriguez Doña Maria, the family matriarch as noted by her white huipil (embroidered blouse) sits proudly in her kitchen. Doña Maria is just one of the family members from the Ixil Maya community of the Guatemalan highlands that featured in a recent photo-documentary by Rodriguez. From...
Afghan Whispers:War, Drugs and USA election
According to media insurgent activity in Afghanistan has risen fourfold this year. Afghan Warrior says operations against terror should be expanded in Pakistan.He adds for the first time the Pakistani Air Force conducted an air strike against suspected Taliban in Bajaur, a tribal area of Pakistan, which killed over 80...
Blogs & Beers with David De Ugarte
David De Ugarte (ES) , a popular bloger in the Spanish-language blogosphere is visiting Chile. He is the founder of Las Indias Electrónicas (ES) and creator of Cyberpunk (ES) A few nights ago, David shared time with Chilean blogers with an open invitation, so everyone could attend. Roberto (ES) posts...
Poland's Pulse in the Blogosphere
Looking on with incredulity…Impersonal meets personal on the streets in Poland. Automatic money machines not adopted by all. Shared by WarsawDaily. On Nov. 11, Poles observed Independence Day. Apartment blocks donned national flags, but there were no fireworks. Woodcraft in Poland places the holiday in its historical context. As noted...
Cambodia: Somaly Mam awarded Women of the Year by Glamour magazine
Somaly Mam works hard. She works hard to cope with her past. In her childhood, she experienced rape, torture, and violence. With her husband Pierre Legros, she founded the AFESIP (Agir pour les Femmes en Situation Précaire) NGO in 1997 in Cambodia where trafficking in persons is one of the...
Voices from South Asia
Bangladesh: Asif of Unheard Voices: Drishtipat Group Blog analyzes the current political situation in Bangladesh and urges all the Bangladeshis to take a non-partisan moral stand to get out of the current crisis. Andrew Morris writes an essay in Desicritics about the historical faces of Dhaka city titled Bangladesh Diary:...
DRC: Opposition Reaction to Early Runoff Speculation
UDPS Liege, the Belgium-based blog of opposition party UDPS posted a press relase in reaction to early speculation that Joseph Kabila (a.k.a Hyppolite Kanambe) may have won the October runoff election in the DRC. Le comité directeur de la Dynamique UDPS Liège s’est réuni en session extraordinaire ce samedi 11...
Venezuelan Oil is Red
During the last week, Venezuelan’s main topic of political conversation has been the new, fully red, fully chavista, PDVSA. The President of the Venezuelan state-owned oil company, Rafael Ramírez, called for absolute support from all workers—from top management to line of production laborers—to President Chávez’ campaign for reelection. Ramírez’ speech...
China: Where democracy lies
With the election of Beijing Communists to the Party‘s National People's Congress (NPC) having taken place this past Wednesday, here's but a handful of the thousands of follow-up blog posts containing words such as democracy, election, revolution and more: “If I had the right to elect the deputies to the...
The DW Best of Blogs Awards
Had I not read Hoder's blog today I would have definitely missed the Deutsche Welle Best of the Blogs awards 2006 ceremony held in the Museum for Communication Berlin a few hours ago. I knew about the awards but I was unaware of the time and place and whether it...
Bloggers on the UN resolution condemning the US embargo against Cuba
On November 8, the United Nations General Assembly voted on a resolution aimed at condemning the US embargo against Cuba. Since then, bloggers have been actively sharing their opinions on the matter. In 1960 the US government imposed an economic embargo against Cuba, hoping that this would help bring about...
The Week That Was in Bahrain
With the Godfather of Bahraini bloggers Mahmood Al Yousif out of the way and sick in hospital – possibly recuperating from his head-on collision with authorities over the blocking of his blog – his prodigies were out to play this week! First and foremost I would like to extend a...
Holding the line for Internet freedoms in Brazilian Cyberspace
The Brazilian cyberspace was shaken this week by the announcement of a ‘Digital Crimes Bill’ under consideration at the Senate's Constitution and Justice Commission. Disclosing just one item in the bill was enough to ignite the fire. It stated that every user must fully identify herself before using the Net,...
Uganda Update: peace talks, reconciliation, and a frustrated president
It's been an excellent week for big news and sharp writing in Uganda. The peace talks in Juba continue to dominate the agenda. Last week, a renewed ceasefire gave LRA rebels until Dec. 1 to assemble at the two meeting points in Southern Sudan. The Government lead at the talks,...