· August, 2008

Stories about Western Europe from August, 2008

China: The Beijing Bay

  20 August 2008

Via TorrentFreak, on the IOC's takedown notice sent not to p2p network The Pirate Bay which was hosting torrents of Olympics footage, but Sweden's Minister of Justice: “We were going to ignore the Olympics, but now we’re loading our cannons. Our weapons of mass distribution are pointed towards China.”

Jamaica: Racism in Sport

  15 August 2008

Following the controversy about an ad in which the Spanish Olympic basketball team is shown forcibly slanting their eyes, Can a Jamaican take Cali? is convinced that Spain “has made a sport of racism!”, while Babalu wonders whether it is simply a case of “the Spanish have their own brand...

USA: Blogging for Anglican Inclusion of LGTB Priests and Bishops

  13 August 2008

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transsexual priests and bishops made efficient use of citizen media to support their campaign for inclusion in the Anglican Church at the recent Lambeth Conference, a global gathering of 650 bishops and archbishops held at the Canterbury Cathedral in the United Kingdom.

Malawi: Discussing development and the Olympics

  12 August 2008

"Development" has been exercising the minds of Malawian bloggers lately. The approach has taken the form of highlighting efforts of Malawians abroad, Malawi's much touted fertilizer subsidy program, Malawi's presence at the Olympics and Chinese presence in Malawi, and a philosophical discourse on the problems that accompany the adoption of westernization as a development paradigm at the expense of tested and effective African ways.

Georgia: History Repeating?

  9 August 2008

Writing from Tbilisi, Wu Wei says images of Russian tanks entering the Georgian breakaway region of South Ossetia bring back memories of Hungary in 1956 and Czechoslovakia in 1968. Meanwhile, although no official evacuation of foreign citizens from Georgia has started, one USAID team is departing, and the blog provides...

Lebanon: An Italian Lesson for Lebanon

What are the similarities between Lebanon and Italy, other than the fact that they both overlook the Mediterranean? Blogger Antoun Issa, in his latest post at Lebanese Chess argues that his understanding of Italy’s political corruption can certainly be compared – both directly and indirectly to Lebanon’s political corruption as...

Bosnia & Herzegovina: Karadžić in The Hague

  2 August 2008

In spite of demonstrations in Belgrade against Radovan Karadžić's extradition to the ICTY in The Hague, he was transferred in the early hours of the 30th of July. The next day his first court appearance took place, where the charges against were read. Bloggers have been commenting on his transfer to The Hague and on the initial court hearing.