24 January 2008

Stories from 24 January 2008

Poland, Ukraine: The Border

  24 January 2008

Our Man in Gdansk writes about Poland's eastern border, the non-Schengen, closely guarded one: “A lorry driver died in the 20-mile queue at the Ukrainian-Polish border crossing at Dorohusk. Warsaw sat up and noticed: Poland has an eastern border.”

Russia: Decossackization

  24 January 2008

De Rebus Antiquis Et Novis writes about the history of Decossackization in Russia and recommends a book on the subject, written by Gregory Tschebotarioff, a former Cossack officer, now a professor at Princeton University.

The Balkans: “Jestdej”

  24 January 2008

Sleeping with Pengovsky posts a copy of the Beatles’ ‘Yesterday’ – spelled phonetically by Croatian musicians: “… For all of you native speakers out there – if you ever wondered how English sounds to people from the Balkans – take a look at the above picture. It just doesn’t get...

Ukraine, Russia: Monopoly

  24 January 2008

MoldovAnn asks readers to vote “for Kyiv to become one of the 22 cities of the world to be included in the new Monopoly World Edition game board.” Robert Amsterdam writes about real-life Monopoly being played in Russia by the Kremlin.

Peru: Introduction to Bloggers from Iquitos

  24 January 2008

The Iquitos or Loreto blogsphere is comprised mostly by young people, with some notable exceptions. Some blog about politics in the Amazon town, while many more write about their own personal lives. Here is an introduction to some of these bloggers.

Brazil: Brazilian Landless Workers Movement turns 24

  24 January 2008

The Brazilian Landless Workers Movement (MST) celebrates today its 24 years. João Valente Aguiar [pt] publishes a beautiful black and white picture and describes it as a “movement which consists of activist people committed to the fight for another kind of society. A movement that because of its tenacity and...

Brazil: Update on the censorship in Pernambuco

  24 January 2008

PE Body Count [pt] has an update on the case of media censorship that has been going on in Recife, Brazil, following an interview on TV in which the authorities guarantee the population that there is no censorship in place. Diogo Menezes uncovers the lies in their discourse and concludes:...

Brazil: A “drinkshop” for bloggers

  24 January 2008

Instead of a workshop,  a few Brazilian bloggers met in a more relaxed “drinkshop” to talk about the blogosphere, nonsense and have fun. “All, absolutely all informal meetings with bloggers I have attended were excellent”, reports Carlos Cardoso [pt].

India: Sex and 40

  24 January 2008

head start reacts to a post that seems to assume that women in India don't have a sex life after the age of 40.

Syria: Palestinian Rights

  24 January 2008

From Syria, Golaniya argues for the right of Palestinians to exist as a people, with a nation. She further reacts to the developments in Gaza: “So the siege is strictly practiced for political reasons and not for security reasons.”

Sri Lanka: Indian Labour

  24 January 2008

Transcurrents.com reacts to a historian's claim that the Indian labour, shipped to Sri Lanka to work on the estates are now a burden in Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka: Blogging at the GLF

  24 January 2008

Ephemeral Ruminations rounds up reactions from the Sri Lankan blogosphere to the Galle Literary Festival – a lot of reactions considering a panel at the festival discussed how seriously bloggers could be taken.

Pakistan: MSM on Blogging

  24 January 2008

Blogging in Pakistan is getting more attention. A breakfast news show on Dawn News interviews bloggers. [Link to Google Video]