Stories from 12 March 2009
Jamaica, Grenada: Writer Shortlisted
Blogging from Jamaica, Life, Unscripted, on the Rock reveals that “Jacob Ross from Grenada has been shortlisted…for the 2009 Commonwealth Writers’ Prize.”
Taiwan: Best Job in the World
Taiwanese girl Clare wants to take the “Best Job” in the world and she is almost there. Job description: managing a beautiful island of Australia and blog about how you enjoy living and swimming there for six months with the total wage amounted to 3,380,000 NTD. Take a look at...
New Citizen Media Projects Foster Rising Voices in Ivory Coast, Liberia, China, Mongolia, and Yemen
Of the 270 project proposals we received from activists, bloggers, and NGO's all wanting to use citizen media tools to bring new communities - long ignored by both traditional and new media - to the conversational web, the following five are most representative of the innovation, purpose and goodwill that Rising Voices aims to support. Please join me in welcoming our new Rising Voices grantees.
Japan: On Twitter, nobody knows you're a bot
“On the Internet, nobody knows you're a dog.” -- The words of a well-known adage dating back to a New Yorker cartoon from 1993 capture the anonymity people generally expect from online communication. This week a new take on this adage hit the Japanese blogosphere when a blogger discovered that two of his closest friends on Twitter were actually bots designed as part of a programming contest.
Armenia: Homophobia
The Armenian Gay & Lesbian Association of NY posts a short video of a recent presentation on homophobia in Armenia. Unzipped: Gay Armenia comments on the video in a separate post which also includes an excerpt detailing a documented case of rape in the Armenian army.
Azerbaijan: Controversial Book Banned
Unzipped: Gay Armenia reports that the controversial book, Artush and Zaur, which details a love story between two men — one Armenian and one Azerbaijani — has been banned in Baku. The blog also says that bookshops selling the novel have been closed down.
Japan: Brazilian community
Roy Berman from Mutantfrog blogs about the life of a Brazilian community (with photos) in the Homi public housing area of Toyota City.
Japan: Link Spam
Motoko comments on Google's decision to punish Google Japan for paying bloggers to promote their new “hot new keywords” by links.
Iran: Hopes, Doubts, Questions over Former President's Candidacy
Former reformist president Mohammad Khatami's announcement on 8 February that he will run in the 2009 Iranian presidential election, attracted a lot of attention in the virtual as well as the real world. Several bloggers shared their hopes, doubts, questions and concerns about Khatami who served between 1997 and 2005.
Russia, Ukraine, the Balkans: Eurovision News
The controversy caused by Georgia's Eurovision Song Contest entry seems to be over (or, depending on one's perspective, has reached its climax), now that Georgia has decided not to take part in this year's event in Moscow, following the European Broadcasting Union's demand that the lyrics of the 'We Don't Wanna Put In' song are either changed or a different song entered. Russia's own entry is causing controversy now as well, however.
Slovenia: WWII History
Sleeping With Pengovsky writes about Slovenia's WWII history and today's politics.
Ukraine: Tymoshenko's Geopolitical Views
Ukrainiana compares Yulia Tymoshenko's geopolitical views now and some two years ago and concludes that she is “arguing with herself.”
Jordan: Blog About Jordan Day Approaches
Blog About Jordan Day, an initiative started in 2008 by blogger Qwaider, has begun. The day designated for all bloggers, Jordanian or not, to write about Jordan in any shape or form, is marked on March 12th of every year.
Egypt: Disaster Ferry Owner Finally Guilty!
The life of each one of the 1,000 plus Egyptians killed when the Salam 89 ferry sank in 2006 is worth about 11 hours in prison for ferry owner, former lawmaker and business tycoon Mamdouh Ismail, who has been sentenced in absentia to seven years in jail for “involuntary slaughter,” say Egyptian bloggers.
Philippines: The Death of a Rebel’s Daughter
A 20-year old teacher and daughter of a communist rebel leader was abducted, tortured, and murdered more than a week ago in the Philippines. The military has denied involvement in this gruesome crime. Bloggers are condemning the "culture of death" in the country.
