Stories from 14 February 2009
Blogging Positively: Join the Global Conversation on HIV/AIDS
This Valentine's Day (February 14) marks not only the start of a Global Voices campaign asking people to “Teach Someone You Love to Blog or Micro-Blog,” it also kicks off...
Jordan: Empowering Women, Emos and Live Mesh
Discussions on empowering women to the behaviour of teenagers to the latest new software which lets you synchronize your all your data on your computer are taking place at the Jordanian blogosphere this week. Mohammad Azraq brings us the latest.
Palestine: A community oven in Gaza
Canadian activist Eva Bartlett describes how a community oven has been set up in a village in southeastern Gaza: “For the many villagers who can’t afford, or can’t find, cooking...
Palestine: Gaza's Valentine's Day flowers
In Gaza, Prof. Said Abdelwahed reports: “For three years Israel gave no permission to any farmer to export flowers! Gazans had to “eat and drink’ flowers for two years. Well,...
Egypt's Leading Women
Egyptian women, like many other women, have great potential once they unleash their power. Eva habil, Passant Refaat, and Radwa Saad El Din are three women who took the lead in three different fields. Marwa Rakha has more in this round up from Egypt's blogs.
Bahrain: The importance of Arabic in advertising
Bahraini blogger aMaL laments the poor Arabic used in advertisements: “As an Arab country, and in the face of the capitalist global campaign to “blend” all cultures together and implant...
Bahrain: No decent Internet provision?
Bahraini blogger Abdulla asks: “I seriously don’t get it, 22 licensed ISPs in Bahrain, and not a single company providing proper internet?”
Bahrain: No need for speed
Maldita, a Filipina living in Bahrain, thinks Bahraini teenagers should be provided with more recreational facilities – instead of using public roads to entertain themselves in their cars.
Bahrain: How much longer for Valentine's Day?
Bahraini blogger Farah Mattar imagines a scene in the future where Valentine’s Day is banned by Bahrain’s MPs: “We have received many complaints from individuals that their neighborhoods were turning...
Brazil: A Falling Castle (and Congressman) in Two Acts
Recently elected Vice-President and Ethics Magistrate of the Brazilian Chamber of Deputies, Edmar Moreira has resigned following only one week in the post, after a property of his – a medieval-style castle in the middle of tropical Brazil about which the tax office were not told – has suddenly come into the spotlight. Will he be investigated? Bloggers speculate on this tragic-comic plot.
USA: Marrying for Love and Country
Whether for love or for visa, deciding whether to marry is never an easy thing. In the United States, where more than 12 million people live as "undocumented" immigrants, falling in love and getting married to an American is one way legal status can be resolved. Immigrant bloggers share their stories.
Azerbaijan: GONGOs
Blogs dealing with democracy across the globe continue to discuss last week's controversial visit to Azerbaijan by Obama campaign manager David Plouffe. Democracy Digest is the latest and says that...
Bangladesh: Citizenship Amendment Act 2009
Tulip Siddiq writes about the newly enacted Citizenship Amendment Act, 2009 in Bangladesh which fixed the previous anomaly that children of any Bangladeshi woman marrying a foreigner would not be...
China: Prominent Blogger Stabbed
Prominent blogger and novelist, Xu Lai at ProState in Flame was stabbed twice in a book store, One Way Street, at Beijing when he finished a public talk. Zola and...
China: On privatization of rural land
For those not quite interested in fireworks and dumplings, the Spring Festival mainly becomes a yearly pretext for reflecting upon the condition of Chinese peasants and the state of China’s...
Georgia: Homphobic TV
Unzipped: Gay Armenia reports that a LGBT organization in the Republic of Georgia has filed a complaint against the deputy head of Public TV for homophobic remarks.
Indonesia: 300 buildings destroyed during quake
Over 300 buildings were destroyed after a 7.4-magnitude quake rocked Indonesia last Thursday.
Indonesia: Divorce and polygamy
I feel guilty writing about divorce and polygamy on Valentine’s Day. But these two unmentionable topics are also realities of love and relationships. In Indonesia, more women are divorcing their husbands because of polygamy.
Japan: Municipal opposition to Street View
Demands by municipal assemblies and bar associations across Japan that Google revise [ja] or even halt altogether its new Street View service, rolled out in 12 Japanese cities late last summer to mixed reactions, have triggered renewed debate on issues of privacy and the limits of public space. The latest moves by municipal governments come on the heels of demands by a group of Japanese lawyers and professors, who petitioned Google in mid-December to retract its service.
Brunei: Think Big ICT Business Plan Competition
The 'Think Big ICT Business Plan Competition' aims "to motivate local entrepreneurs to realise their ideas in the field of information and communications technology with the opportunity to develop their business ideas and enhance their creativity; as well as to provide a platform for identifying, nurturing and showcasing entrepreneurial talents in Brunei."
Caribbean: Let's Talk About Love
The Caribbean has not historically been a region that celebrates Valentine's Day in a big way, but three bloggers (two from the diaspora) take the opportunity to share their perspectives on love.
