Stories from 12 December 2010
Bahrain: Beans and Petrol Prices Going Up
The price of petrol …and beans is set to rise in Bahrain. Mahmood Al Yousif offers his two cents.
Egypt: Happy Sixth Anniversary Global Voices!
Egyptian Mohamed ElGohary marks Global Voices Online‘s sixth birthday with a post.
Jordan: Time for the Palestinian Jordanian Conversation
From Jordan, Naseem Al Tarawneh gives us an insight on chaotic football and the much needed Palestinian Jordanian identity conversation. “If there was ever a time for the taboo chains to crumble, the chains that have long ensnared any attempts to host a national dialog over the issue of identity...
Malawi” 29 New tweets matching Malawi
Cryton Chikoko posts new 29 new tweets about Malawi:missbwalya - “Is anyone really surprised at Mutharika's mismanagement of Malawi's top job? Rewind to COMESA days. #Malawi”
Japan: Opposing Proposed Bill to Restrict “Harmful” Anime and Manga
The anime and manga industry's protest again Tokyo's proposed bill for tighter restrictions on content sold to youths escalated on Friday when ten publishers announced that they would not participate in Tokyo International Anime Fair. The Japanese twittersphere is abuzz with this topic, as reflected in Togetter [ja], where it...
Japan: Asahi's English Daily to become Electronic Only
Andy Sharp at the Diplomat's Tokyo Notes reports that the print version of Asahi Shimbun’s printed English-language daily will be discontinued next February and become electronic only. This leaves two printed English-language dailies in Japan, and Sharp notes “given their precarious positions, it would not come as a shock if,...
Lebanon: Delicious Zaatar Batons
Here's the recipe for making delicious zaatar (thyme) sticks, in addition to links about zaatar and other Lebanese food that can easily be made at home.
Japan: Web Service Togetter now in English
Togetter is a popular Japanese web service that allows users to bundle tweets under any given topic. They launched an English version of the service as Chripstory last week. Many Twitter users have voiced their encouragement and support, as bundled in this Togetter thread [ja].
Colombia: Twitter Solidarity with Victims of Rainy Season
Colombian Twitter users have joined to support the victims of this year's heavy rainy season, which has affected at least 1.5 million people. Twitteratón [es] started on December 8 as an event in Medellín [es] to collect donations for the victims, prompting similar events in other cities like Bogotá (12/...
Serbia: The Controversy of the Nobel Peace Prize Ceremony
Sinisa Boljanovic writes about Serbia's initial decision not to attend the Nobel peace prize ceremony and the controversy it caused.
China: “the person I most admire has the surname Liu.”
Danwei has translated a range of Chinese microbloggers’ tweets and posts celebrating their heroes. Those mentioned are all surnamed Liu, and share similar traits with Liu Xiaobo, this year's imprisoned Nobel Peace Prize winner.
Macedonia: Introducing the Hunza Affair
On the Nationalities Blog, Anastas Vangeli, aka Vuna, analyzes from the perspective of Orientalism an ongoing Macedonian political affair: fraternization with the “Hunza people” from the remote mountainous region of Pakistan, who claim ancestry from the soldiers of Alexander the Great.
Japan: The Fear of the Internet
Last year W. David MARX at Neojaponisme wrote a thoughtful post on “Japanese internet aversion” [en], in which he proposed an interpretation of the Japanese attitude toward the Net that is still valid today. According to the blogger, the fear of the internet manifests itself as “user trepidation” and “corporate...
