Stories from 10 August 2007
Russia: “Criminal Moscow”
Lyndon of Scraps of Moscow posts his old translation of the intro to Nikolai Modestov's Criminal Moscow: A Documentary Chronicle of the Lawlessness of the '80's and '90's.
Bulgaria: “Something Cultural”
A wonderful story of an attempt to experience “something cultural” in the middle of “a mostly peasant summer” in Sofia – from Petya of Bighead: “Nothing can make a falafel taste better than a little bit of violin in the background.”
Slovenia: Slovinglish, etc.
A link to the post on “Slovinglish” as well as other picks – in this week's Best of the Slobs roundup at The Glory of Carniola.
Belarus: Eternal Flame
Eternal Remont takes a guess at what might be Russia's reaction to the following incident: “…last night, three drunk Belarussian youths have done what the Germans could not 60 years ago, by extinguishing the Eternal Flame dedicated to World War II soldiers in Minsk's Victory Square.”
Baltic States: Refugees
Lituanica writes about refugees seeking shelter in the Baltic states: “Lithuania received 312, Latvia – 19 and Estonia 8 refugees this year so far.”
Belarus: Jagger, Russian Military, Colonial Thinking
TOL's Belarus writes about “colonial thinking” of some bloggers, Mick Jagger's message for the Belarusians, and a Russian military base near Vilejka.
Belarus: Homeless Man's New Apartment
Adam Goodman of Being Had shares a story of a man who seems to have benefited from “a law against homelessness” that is said to exist in Belarus: “I think you can imagine how startling it is to have your friendly neighborhood bum come to you and say he now...
Estonia, Russia: Battling the “Kommisars of the Net”
Itching for Eestimaa shares the techniques of “battling Russian nationalists” on the Web: “…a tutorial on how to flip their arguments on their head, and move the discussion into territory so foreign to them, they will find themselves actually agreeing with you because they have no idea what you are...
Estonia: Eternal Remont
Itching for Eestimaa writes about remont in Estonia: “…the point of remont is not to finish it, but to keep doing it. This is Estonia, and in Estonia, remont is one of the national pastimes, along with drinking õlut and explaining Estonian history from the 13th century to unsuspecting listeners.”
Estonia: Scandinavian Influence
Itching for Eestimaa writes about Scandinavian influence in Estonia (and the two Swedes who represented Estonia in the Eurovision Song Contest in 2002 and 2006).
Uganda: Happy hour unrest, Blogumentary and Sam Cooke
Ugandan blogger/hip-hop artist Saving a Generation Endangered (S.A.G.E.) stirred up controversy this week when he lashed out at Uganda Bloggers Happy Hour (BHH) attendees in a “Blogging a Blogger” interview conducted by blogger, Country Boyi.
Iran:Kids and Drugs
Jomhour has published a film where a kid consumes drugs and gets encouraged by an adult.The blogger says[Fa] this kid at this age is not responsible for his acts and fragile social system pushes him to become a drug addicted and gets executed in future.
Pakistan: Missing parts of Marriage Contract
An author at All Things Pakistan on the missing paragraphs in the Nikah Nama – the marriage contract as signed in the Islamic tradition.
Nepal: A new anthem
Kathmandu Speaks has a strong opinion on the new national anthem proposed for Nepal.
Bangladesh: After the floods
Mash on the aftermath of the floods in Bangladesh – displaced persons and lack of clean drinking water, posing a serious health hazard.
Raed Jarrar's Final Say
Iraqi Raed Jarrar will finally have his say in court after filing for a discrimination law suit against a Transportation Security Administration (TSA) official and JetBlue Airways for illegally discriminating against him based solely on the Arabic message on his t-shirt and his ethnicity.
Can Egypt Copy Turkey?
Egyptian blogger Zeinobia attempts to answer the following question: Can we repeat the Turkish scenario in Egypt, in this post.
Iran:Iran, Israel Contacts, Really?
Haji Kensigton writes in “Treacherous Alliance,” Trita Parsi,contends that shortly after Iran proposed a “grand bargain” to the United States four years ago, Tehran made a similar offer to Israel during an academic meeting in Athens.Parsi’s claim was called into question by some Iran experts.
Oman: Home Dilemma
Muscati from Oman lashes out at an interior decorator for not having his house completed in time.
Egypt: Ignorant US Presidential Candidates
E D Shobrawy from Egypt discusses the “overwhelming ignorance” of the US presidential candidates after Tom Tancredo called for the bombing of two Muslim holy sites – Mecca and Medina.
The Plight of Iraqis in Jordan
Last of the Iraqis recalls how humiliation and terror replaced a long deserved holiday in Jordan in a moving post which chronicles the inhumane treatment Iraqis receive at the Amman Airport.
