Friday Global Blog Roundup

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East Asia

ESWN has a nice photo essay covering Hong Kong’s annual June 1 march. The turnout for the march was substantially lower than it has been in years past; the fact that Hong Kong’s much-reviled former Chief Executive, Tung Chee-Wah had stepped down from his post and had been recently replaced by the relatively popular Donald Tsang probably had something to do with the lower turnout.

The Angry Chinese Blogger takes the government to task for seizing school textbooks that didn’t conform to the official government line. Given that these books were destined for a Japanese International School, one might think the offending portions might have to do with the occupation of China by the Japanese in the 1930s; however, what really set of the censorship machine was the fact that a map inside the book showed China and Taiwan in different colors.

Chinese blogger Wang Jianshuo has started the process of registering his blog; having submitted the required information, he's waiting for the Chinese bureaucracy to get back to him.

Photograph by ESWN

The Middle East

Saudi Jeans points us to an Arabic wiki about arabic bloggers.

Abu Aardvark devotes a long post to, among other things, the image of Saudi women abroad, the development of Saudi pop stars, and the tensions inherent in a religious society where 9 out of 10 households have satellite dishes. In a separate post, though, he sadly notes that “it seems like every month or so I need to update the same basic post with new names: more Arab journalists killed, arrested, or otherwise harmed.”

Baghdad Burning critiques President Bush’s recent speech: “‘He’s describing a different country…’ I commented to E. and the cousin.”

Iran Hopes addresses the was-Ahmadinejad-a-hostage-taker-or-not controversy by noting that not only is the new Iranian President somewhat shorter than the man in the photographs, but the hostage-takers are well-known in Iran, and many of them have risen to positions of power. Hoder agrees, saying that while they look similar, the eyes and eyebrows are too different for them to be the same man.

The Orthodox Anarchist explains why he marched in Jerusalem’s controversial Gay Pride Parade.

Africa

African Bullets & Honey calls Live 8 “an exercise in white, Western megalomania;” and that “Geldof and company will lay claim to the very last thing so many Africans own: our problems.”

This is Zimbabwe reports that the Mugabe regime, dissatisfied with terrorizing city-dwellers, has started to target pet dogs.

South Asia

Chien(ne)s Sans Frontieres looks at the political gamble that Sri Lanka’s JVP party has taken (they’re threatening to leave the government over sharing tsunami relief with the rebel Tamil Tigers) and points out that two Sri Lankan TV networks have turned it into a kind of real gambling, with real money.

According to United We Blog!, the Nepalese government has blocked access to two websites that report on political affairs in Nepal. The government's rationale for the banning is that the two sites “encourage Maoist activity”.

The internet in Pakistan continues to creak, as ISPs rely on their backup links while waiting for the main cable to the internet to be restored. However, accessing more of the internet seems possible, reports Habitual Procrastination.

South-East Asia

Both Brand New Malaysian and Jeff Ooi’s Screenshots take issue with the Malaysian state of Selangor declaring itself to be a ‘developed state’. In the introduction to his lengthy post analyzing the situation, Mack Zulkifli says that “it reeks of a kind of elitism that borders on a form of treason that is separatist in characteristics, and it can be very dangerous. Extremely dangerous.” Jeff Ooi clearly finds the whole affair distasteful, and suggests that those behind the effort are ethically challenged.

Photograph by Bentley Smith

Europe

Following up on yesterday’s note about the slow uptake of blogging in Germany, Loic Le Meur reports that the German food company Frosta has started its own blog. In addition, Loic points to a case study by Shel Isreal of a cosmetics company that at first failed in the blogspace but rebounded strongly.

The blog The UK Today wonders why the British government is wasting its time on things like making sure the sides in the recreation of the Battle of Trafalgar are labeled ‘Red’ and ‘Blue’ instead of, say, ‘England’ and ‘France’ when there are so many other things it should be working on—like a UK connection to the Uzbekistan massacre.

Red Star News, a Berlin-based blog that mainly focuses on China, turns its gaze closer to home to report that it saw a report on television that Austria now requires all bloggers who “can influence public opinion” to blog under their real name. We haven't been able to verify this story yet–has anyone else heard about this?

Latin America

Altered Argentina writes about his latest trip to Brazil [en], comparing Argentinian Spanish with Brazilian Portuguese as well as Argentina versus Brazil on the soccer field. Christian Gomez of Juanson World [en] asks, what about Argentine versus Brazilian women?

Barrio Flores [en] and MABB [en] both discuss the latest political poll to appear in La Razon [es] for the upcoming special election. Both agree that “the biggest surprise is that the pollsters asked if ex-President Carlos Mesa was allowed to participate, how many would vote for him. His returns were at 25%, considerably lower than this favorable ratings of the mid 40s, when he left office, but still shows that many think that he will return to the race someday.”

Fernando Flores reflectspositively on Lawrence Lessig's recent visit to Santiago, Chile [es].

While attention on Live8 [en] seems to so far be focused mostly on Africa, the Chilean blog Libardo Buitrago reminds us that 96 million people living in Latin America still do so on less than a dollar a day [en].

Babalu points to En La Yuma – another Cuban-American weblog focusing on Cuba.

Christian Gomez of Juanson World shares his thoughts on yesterday's Senate vote on CAFTA [en]. Though the agreement did pass, Gomez says it can hardly be called “free trade.”

The Latin America roundup was compiled by David Sasaki (el Oso).

6 comments

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    Rebecca, suggest you ask Horst Prillinger about the Austrian blogging situation. He’s the librarian at the U of Vienna. He blogs at Aardvark to Vienna (it’s Wien in German; a sort of librarianish pun). Oh, no, I see I’m wrong; it’s called ‘The Aardvark Speaks.’ Sorry! I always remember it incorrectly.

    The Aarvark Speaks>

  • Live8 in Berlin – Programm – Forderungen an G8 Gipfel

    Das Live8 Konzert in Berlin findet heute von 14:00h bis 20:00h an der Siegess

  • Amy Anderson

    On Baghdad Burning and the Bush speech, these personal reflections really sum up the Iraq disaster. More and more Americans are frustrated with the daily news. Is the answer that yet another dictatorship should take over to bring peace and order to Iraq? Can there be no peace and order AND freedom? Once Americans leave, how safe will this young man and his cousin be? Does he really want Hussein back the way it was? I agree, the reference to the deaths of 2,000 American soldiers and Bush’s continued minimizing of the deaths of 100,000 Iraqi civilians is an embarrassment to this country; that underlying theme that one American life is more sacred that thousands of foreigners is what makes us so hated in the world. Yes, Bush’s job is to protect us, but is that type of thinking really the best way to lead the country to peace in the world with our neighbors? Many, many Ameicans wonder why we are not fighting in Saudia Arabia and Pakistan instead; that’s where the true 9-11 enemies lives; seems to me we have exploited the Iraqi people for the purpose of fighting a war away from home, horrendous! True, it is a good thing to have liberated Iraqi, now let’s leave them to build their own nation, for better or worse. They will have no one to blame but themselves if they elect yet another brutal tyrant to turn on the electricity. Meantime, my grandchildren will have a new generation of Middle Eastern peers who will hate them…

  • You could add my clutching at straws post about Pink Floyd reforming (as announced by the drumer, Nick Mason)!

  • […] ggers who hope to slip through the cracks of bureaucratic confusion. As we pointed out in Friday’s roundup, Wang Jianshuo has applied for a registration number for h […]

  • Globalization & Neo-Colonialism
    !!WAKE UP!!

    Please review your comment before posting …

    HOW CAN THE FUTURE BE SO PRIMATIVE?

    Here we are in the Twentieth Century helplessly watching yet another Human Culture be “Oppressed” by a “White Suppremest Imperialistic Power”. Who’s country is the opposite of independant and who’s Rich illustirous lifestile is nothing more than the “Spoils of War” A Nation that FORCES its POLITICAL GOALS upon another society through MILITARY POWER is called an Empire. And when its POLITICAL GOALS are RACIALY and FINANCIALLY motivated its called a “HATE CRIME” or WAR CRIME/CRIME AGAINST HUMANITY And don’t be mistaken an EMPIRE is exactly what the United States intends to build. Expressing no COMPASHION FOR HUMANITY, CONCIENCE nor sense of WRONG or RIGHT the FACIST WHITE SUPPREMEST IMPERIALISTIC POWER known as the United States Government has yet again SLANDERED and OPPRESSED another HUMAN SOCIETY. Justifying 3000 American lives lost in a plane accident the United States Launched a 4 day bombardment of a heavily populated CIVILIAN area killing upwards of 100,000 inoccent people. Proving Once agian they will not only STEAL another cultures land but HUMILIATE and GENOCIDE their NATURAL WAY OF LIFE. Never in my life did i really think I would be so glad to live in the Great White North(THE GOOD SIDE OF THE BORDER) Now realalizing that only 195 years ago to this Canada Day that 10’s of thousands of Canadians gave their lives to stop a MASS AMERICAN INVASION for the CIVIL RIGHTS and FREEDOM we have today. We Truely are free. To the South are 260 million Brainwashed Nazi Capitalists who will Point Certain Death in whatever direction their CORUPT GOVERNMENT points its twisted finger. How Quickly ANITITERRORISM turns to TERRORISM. Now is the Time that Canada must Stand up and let our voice be heard, We are one of the GREATEST INDEPENDANT MULTICULTURAL NATIONS IN THE WORLD who practice FREE TRADE and promote FREEDOM and PROSPERITY thoughout the world. We must not forget our HERITAGE and allow ourselves to be ASSIMILATED by the “Nazi Capitalists” who now feel they are fit to rule the world. I Refer to the United States as NAZI CAPITALISTS for the simple fact that they’re government has launched a MINDWARPING PROPEGANDA scheme and commited such atrosive CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY that it can only be compared to the HOLOCAUST in reality the United States has been the AXIS OF ALL EVIL in the last 250 years. Origianaly British CONQORERS who Launched a RACIALY and FINANCIALLY motived War agianst a New Found North America LandMass. Which lead to the near GENOCIDE of an entire HUMAN CULTURE.(The “Indian Wars” not in American History!) But to what eventually turned on its MOTHERLAND Britain. Then Canada for not joining its Cause, Trying to Assimilate Not only our Culture but Land and Finances. The United States now denies its Eastern origin and Considers itself a Western Culture as it has Continued to ASSULT the rest of the FREE world since. Using FACIST BRAINWASHING NAZI PROPEGANDA to gain their populations support and financial backing. The United States Government has never Been invaded nor has another culture tried to assimilate them yet they are commited to SPENDING BILLIONS and killing THOUSANDS to fight every United States INVASION to the “last ditch” in order to expand their borders and achieve their political and economical goals.
    Yet somehow the American Public thinks they are PROTECTING THEMSELVES!?!?
    The American public has watched COVERUP after SCANDAL and COVERUP after CONSPIRACY and yet still never questions their Governments Morals or Motivations…They blindly follow in a SLAUGHTER THE COW fashion while their TAX DOLLARS are spent on the MANUFACTURING AND DISTRIBUTING of WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION instead of HEALTHCARE and EDUCATION! Yet Americans claim they fight for FREEDOM!?
    · In the 20th Century there is only ONE “TERRORIST ORGANIZATION” and it is the UNITED STATES of AMERICA. The American Citizens need to wake up and realize that thier Government WELCOMES and BRINGS WW3 to the Human Race so they can Conqour it!

    -A Canadian Citizen who loves his FREEDOM HIS COUNTRY AND THE NATURAL FREE WORLD

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