Stories from 4 May 2006
China: Technorati's struggles
Technorati has increased indexing of non-English blogs, writes Danwei‘s Joel Martinsen, going on to explain why the aggregator's indexing of many Chinese blogs will still show only—perhaps even less than—half the popularity picture.
Tajikistan: Is Russia a Friend?
Tajik Boy asks whether or not Russia is Tajikistan's friend or foe in the long term given Russia's treatment of states in the former USSR who pursue independent political paths.
Kyrgyzstan: Students & Politics
The Golden Road to Samarqand reports on Kyrgyz universtity students’ thoughts on politics in the wake of last weekend's large protest in Bishkek.
Kyrgyzstan: Knuckling Down
Claire Wilkinson says that Kyrgyz must seriously think about and enact changes to build a better future rather than acting for short-term benefits, which has done nothing but hurt the country.
Armenia: Chasing Hastert
Arsineh offers a first-hand report on Serj and John of System of a Down hunting down Dennis Hastert, Speaker of the US House of Representatives, to pressure him to bring to a vote a pending resolution on recognizing the Armenian genocide.
Armenia: Armavia Update
Harmick posts the latest on the Armavia crash at Blogrel.
Serbia & Montenegro: Pro-European Rally Planned For May 9
A protest is being planned in Serbia on May 9, writes Belgrade Blog, and it is being advertised by means of SMS: “”In '92. they told us that the sanctions will last two weeks. Today, Mladic is more important to them than all of us! PROTEST – SERBIA TO EUROPE!...
Russia: “Rich Russia Minus Ideology Equals Trouble”
Edward Lucas, the Central and East European correspondent of The Economist, writes about the dangers Russia poses as an ideology-free, “cash-rich energy empire.” The beatroot reports on Poland's defense minister Radek Sikorski likening the Russian-German gas deal to the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact.
Russia: Humor
W. Shedd of The Accidental Russophile writes about a Westerner's take on Soviet – and Russian – humor: “The film also makes the case that humor has dried up in Russia since the fall of communism. I'm rather skeptical of this claim […]. The targets might now be New Russians,...
Russia: MTS Rebranding
Snowsquare.com, Scraps of Moscow and Russian Marketing Blog write about strange-looking ads that have appeared in Moscow and are part of the mobile phone provider MTS re-branding campaign.
Ukraine: Irene Zabytko's Stories
Greg of Reflections on Ukraine shares his impressions of a book of stories by a Ukrainian author Irene Zabytko: “All of the stories are narrated by the central character, Luba, a Ukrainian in her early twenties of the post-WWII displaced persons (DP) group of immigrants who lives with her parents...
Slovenia: Vegetarian President
Slovenia's president is fighting cancer and is a vegetarian, writes Michael of The Glory of Carniola. He also links to an interview with the president published by the Society for the Liberation of Animals.
China: May Fourth Movement missed
Not a lot of bloggage today on the cultural, political and anti-imperialist May Fourth Movement which began on this day in 1919, in an environment and with a course of events somewhat similar to that of the spring and early summer first in Beijing then nation-wide seventy years later. Although...
Guatemala: New Aggregator and Blog Directory
Oscar Mota introduces (ES) readers of DesdeGuate.com to Blogs Chapines (ES), an aggregator and directory of Guatemalan blogs. Guatemala had been one of the few Latin American countries left without a directory.
El Salvador: Cycling, Pro and Otherwise
Tim Muth says the eight day pro cycling race Vuelta a El Salvador is currently underway. Meanwhile, a cyclist named David is riding through Central America and blogging his journey at A Ride for the Climate.
Costa Rica: Helping an NGO Blog
Jacqueline Passey says she'll be setting up a blog for the Costa Rican NGO “El Puente” and asks her to help by linking to it, donating books, and helping with fundraising.
Chile: Las Torres Del Paine
Maciej Ceglowski brings his ever-magical prose and lens to Torres Del Paine National Park in the Patagonia region of Chile.
Belize: Unspoiled
An outing in the Belize countryside renews in Lee Vanderwalker “a sense of urgency in photographing old Belize before the cruise ships and big buck tourists “discover” that Belize is a safe and friendly country and come in and spoil everything.”
Mexico, Latin America: Podcasting and Politics
Fran J. Saavedra, writing from the Canary Islands, announces the first Podcast Marathon (ES), which will take place this Saturday with the goal of promoting more interaction between Spanish-speaking bloggers and podcasters. Likewise, Eduardo Arcos is seeking the participation of bloggers (ES) for a series on the upcoming presidential elections...
Saudi Arabia: Toruist Visas
In a new and positive development, Saudi Arabia is now issuing non-religious toruist visas. This means that people who are interested in coming to the country for purposes other than business or Hajj can finally visit the country. Aya tells us that there is things to visit in Saudi Arabia....
Syria: Kubaisi women
Ammar talks about the interesting now celebrated phenomenon of the Kubaisi women – the orthodox sufi women movement founded by the Syrian scholar and teacher, Munira Kubaisi, a.k.a. the Miss. The movement which began in the early 60s in Damascus is now an international one with centers all over the...
