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Kurdistance:

Deborah Ann Dilley · 23:37 · Middle East & North Africa

Wow, it's Wednesday again, with school and several threatening comments on my personal blog today I almost forgot. But don't worry dear readers, I am here to give you your weekly fix of Kurdish blogs!

For a quick update on last week's column, I had reported about a blog site being abuptly taken down, it turns out that all is well and that particular blogger is back up and running again. Additionally, we had mentioned last week about a Turkish club singer who is working on a Kurdish film; Vladimir gives an update on his blog From Holland to Kurdistan:

I especially liked her answer to this question:” A kind of odd question for you Ozzie, How do you think the Turkish government reaction might be towards everything you're doing for Kurdistan?”
She said she doesn’t care and wants to unite Kurds and Turks. “We are neighbors and I want the two nations to live in peace and have their rights.”

The Is-Ought Problem calls for the internet publication of persecuted Kurdish author Marywan Halabjaye, who I erroneously reported as a female author last week. The fatwa against his life was issued for the book entitled: ” Sex, Sharia and Women in the History of Islam”.

Hiwa from Hiwa Hopes writes about a private screening he was invited to for the new film Ahlam.

Save RojTV writes about a new letter campaign they began to save their television station in Mardin (Northern Kurdistan, Southeast Turkey). Their long list of supporters continue to grow including Kurdish author Handren:

This national awakening of the Kurds towards Kurdish Language and identity is a respond to the Turkish states violation of human rights, and it wont stop. Turkey can't shut down the voice of Roj TV, and continue with its policy of human right violation, whilst trying to become a member of the democratic society.

Rasti writes this week comparing the Three Stooges and Iran, and about memories brought on by a recent article written by Kevin McKiernan.

Roj Bash wrote about alleged poisonings of Iranian Kurds and gives a personal account of an encounter of the Kurdish kind in Turkey.

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Central & Eastern Europe: International Women's Day

Veronica Khokhlova · 19:48 · Eastern & Central Europe

March 8 has been an official day off in Russia and Ukraine, and here are some bloggers' reactions to the holiday - in Russia and Ukraine, as well as elsewhere in Central and Eastern Europe.

Scott W. Clark of Foreign Notes, a Kyiv-based blog, is not happy about the universality of the day off:

[…] everyone, or most everyone, has it off including the elevator repairman for our building. Hiking up 13 floors with the littlest Clark in hand is not my idea of the perfect holiday.

Oleksandr, a Ukrainian living in Montreal and writing Messages From Canada, wonders why March 8 is considered an international holiday when it's more of a Soviet holiday and should be treated as such:

Like my sister's friend said: I am not Soviet Union woman (”sovetskaya zhenshyna”), so that I don't celebrate this holiday at all. Me too, I am not Soviet Union man, so that if I met any of my female friends this day in Ukraine, I would say just “have a nice day” ;)

Konstantin Dlutskiy of Russian Marketing Blog and Konstantin of Russian Blog both reproduce Soviet-time March 8 posters: “Down with kitchen slavery” from the former and “[Soviet-Chinese] friendship is unbreakable” from the latter.

Sergey Belyakov of the Novgorod-based RUBLog sends his warmest wishes to the women of the world and reminds the rest of the humankind that it's not too late to buy flowers online, thus revealing yet another aspect of March 8 - as any other holiday, it's very good for commerce:

For mens:

In Russia, it is usual to present flowers on 8th March. You still have time to make it, with Send Flowers or Flowers 2 Russia.

Norvezhskiy Lesnoy (LJ user nl) has created a generic March 8 greeting (RUS) for Moscow's Bolshoi Gorod bloglike website: every year, press services of “presidents, governors, heads of oil corporations, etc.” across Russia have to revise their last year's greetings - and often they repeat themselves or each other; by taking it a step further and combining quotes from various official addresses, NL helps those busy men save time and avoid embarrassment.

Olga Sagareva criticizes (RUS) a recent order issued by Chechnya's new prime minister Ramzan Kadyrov: from now on, women in Chechnya are required to wear headscarves in government institutions and on TV.

[…] no one has probably told Kadyrov that March 8 is the day of fighting for women's rights, and this is the reason it was so dear to the Soviet people, and not to them alone.

(A year ago, Kadyrov's March 8 present to the Chechen women was - very inappropriately - the dead body of his main opponent, Aslan Maskhadov.)

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The Week That Was - Bolivian Blogs

Eduardo Avila · 19:44 · Americas

This article was written by Rolando Lopez from Rocko Weblog. This article originally appeared in the Bolivian blog community site Blogs de Bolivia. The original Spanish version can be found here.

Bolivia, Blogs and Music

Whether it is watching the birth of a new album, providing insight into what it is like to be in a band, reflecting on the sensation that attending a concert leaves us, sharing the sounds of a person who lives off of music, reading the lyrics of a musician whose passion with the guitar provides us with so much, remembering bands from all across the globe from long ago or simply writing about music, it all is done so with passion. The musical universe has opened up a space for blogs and in Bolivia particularly, blogs are a way to bring all of this together. We’ll try to recap the different pages devoted to music.

Almaqueloide

To talk about contemporary Bolivian rock, one must mention the name Rodrigo Villegas, who also was part of the band Loukass, one of the most important Bolivian rock bands in the 1990s. “El Grillo” has released seven solo albums and is one of the most important reference points in the Bolivian rock world. Villegas (Grillo) writes the blog Almaquelodide about his diverse experience as a musician. There he shares anecdotes about his life and especially about his outlook on the international music world. Sometimes he writes about football (passionate fan of the club Bolivar), and less often he writes about politics without letting go of the thread that unites the reality of the country. A few weeks ago, Grillo started his second blog: Detailed chronicles of an album, where he writes about the creation of his most recent production which will be released in May. He promises a new sound, different to what many are used to and between the stories of barbeques, guitars, and photos of the recording sessions, he allows us to accompany him during the creation of an album.

Magister Gorditus Blog

The band Scoria was formed on June 4, 1992 during a time where it was necessary to create a group with unique characteristics. This is important in the “national movement” because it introduces original compositions with a high degree of social content and commitment for the society in which we live. The first lines that can be read in the blog, which is written by Sergio “Pelu” Larrazabal, are the day to day activities of Scoria. These anecdotes include late night partying, trips, and concerts. There are also reflections on the social commitment that the band’s lyrics are centered around.

Espina Dorsal

One of the most well-known musicians involved with electronica es Álvaro “Conejo” Arce, who in a certain way swims against the musical current in Bolivia. The producer, composer and leader of “Ra Beat”, he writes about his start within electronic music. He also writes about the creation of the project called “Ra Beat” and his music influences. “Conejo” Arce is synonymous with electronic music in Bolivia.

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The Moroccan blogosphere celebrates women and discusses taboos

Farah Kinani · 12:36 · Middle East & North Africa

The Moroccan bloggers paid their tribute to the woman who is, Today, celebrated all over the world. They also discussed sensitive issues like being gay in a conservative environment. Samir blogged about Rif, where two-thirds of farmers grow cannabis, while IBAHRINE stressed the revolutionary role of the internet in the Arab world.

Woman..we love you!

Larbi has a very personal way of celebrating the international women's day. He's asking the readers of his blog to write about women bloggers they find special (French). And based on the big number of comments his post received, I can say that the Moroccan woman who blogs is highly appreciated!!

Bsima dedicates a nice poem to the woman you remember one day while she dreams of being around you forever(French).

Anima celebrates the Palestinian woman Oum Ibrahim(Arabic) who refuses to denounce her son, while Bluesman declares that it's a nightmare to have no women in the world!(Arabic).

Gay in morocco

Lemrina is starting an e-debat about the homosexuality in Morocco(French). Her blog received more than fifty comments, most of them reflecting the willing of their writers to discuss “being gay in Morocco” and go beyond taboos.

Anima met Samira, a Moroccan lesbian and had an interesting discussion with her. She blogs about the story of this girl raped by her own brother (Arabic) when she was only 6 years old.
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Three Renowned Chinese Blogs Blocked

Frank Dai · 11:17 · East Asia

UPDATE: At least two of these blogs appear to be back up. See comments section, or this round-up post.

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Three renowned Chinese bloggers are blocked by their BSPs, including one of the most popular bloggers in the country and DW Best of Blog winner, Milk Massage.

The three blogs are Milk Massage, Milkpig and Pro State in Flames. The first two are hosted on Yculblog and the last is hosted on Sohoxiaobao. Now trying to access to those blogs, you will get message like “Due to some unavoidalbe reasons that all of us know, this blog is temoprarily closed” or “For nontechnical reasons, this blog is closed from today”. Here is a screenshot.

Apparently, this blockage is not done by the government but by the personnels in the Blog Service Providers who consider the three blogs offending and dangerous. Danwei has a story. He aslo compares this with another blogger, who is a member of CPPCC that is having the yearly joint session in Beijing.

The news quickly spread in Chinese blogosphere. Lianyue, a columnist said on his blog with his usually ironical style(in translation):

Yesterday, the officals at “Administration of Blog” has receieved an email, demanding the shutdown of “Lianyue's Blog”. It's wonderful that the sender of the mail is Lianyue himself. His reason is “All are blocked except for me. So I am faceless”

Hellomedia, a blog dedicated to tracing the development of new media, analyzes the reasons leading to the blocking. Showing a screenshot, he thinks that it is the mention of FaLungong that close the blog Milk Massage. For Milkpig, it seems quite unreasonable since she only talk about celebrities stories and gossip. And the “Pro State in Flames” has long been politically aggressive and it's blocked because the two major political conferences are undergoing in Beijing:CPPCC and CPC.

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IWD: Honouring African Women - Part 2

Sokari Ekine · 06:13 · Sub-Saharan Africa

Pilgrimage to Self honours the “unheard voices” of African women - the women who maintain our communities but never get the recognition.

This is for the woman who watches as her country is ravaged by war…..This is for the woman who has been sold into marriage for sake of family, faith or tradition…This is for the woman who suffers abuse because of her colour, lifestyle, faith, opinion, background, ethnic group….This is for the woman looked down on because she has chosen to stay at home and look after her kids….This is for all of us who in one way or another are forgotten and maligned because of who we are – Women”

au lait celebrates herself - today is also her birthday -

I share my day today with millions of extraordinary women around the world, and that is a great honour for me…..I cannot forget to celebrate my MUM who continues to amaze and inspire me with her beauty, strength and resilience. Mum, one day, I will be half the woman you are, and I will be glad.”

Soul on Ice honours his mother - “Sweet Mother”

we'd been through rough times growing up and without her I would never have come to a point were I would be responsible and have my own family. My dad was the archetypal business man, taking the risks, hitting and missing. Rocking the boat. My mum was the captain keeping us all on course.

AfroMusings honours all the women in her family especailly her aunt S.

She reminds the younger members of the family that education is a lifelong endeavour. She graduated with a masters degree last year, all the while taking care of 4 children, well they are adults now… She concentrated on research on a little known genetic disease that afflicts a small number of kenyans including our cousin K.

Uaridi honours “her special heroine - the working mother”

A memory that stays with me is one I once saw in my infrequent journeys upcountry. A woman was walking home in the evening, on her back was a basket filled with food; a load of firewood, and her youngest child. Next to her was another child, and as she was walking, she was shelling peas – for supper of course

Adeunke on Adefunke writes of the many women who have touched her and others and chooses to celebrate them all through her mother, Princess.

she has managed to do a good job of raising two children, me and my 20 year old sister who has cerebral palsy. I learned the meaning of forgiveness as I watched her struggle with the hand fate dealt her. I learned the meaning of beauty as I watched her touch people with her kindness. I learned the meaning of perseverance as I watched her lovingly not give up on my sister.

Nyakehu celebrates the women in her family and tells us a story about her grandmother, mum and aunt during the Mau Mau uprising in the 1950s.

the Kikuyu women were put in concentration camps while the Kikuyu men were detained elsewhere. The women had home guards and one guard had it for Cucu, Mum and Aunty and would whip them without provocation.

For Mshairi there are so many women to celebrate that she would end up with lists and lists of women including her mothers, activists, peacemakers, women bloggers to name a few. This year she chooses to especially honour African women musicians: Angelique Kidjo from Benin, Sibongile Khumalo from South Africa, queen of Taraab’ Zuhura Swaleh from Kenya, Cesaria Evora from Cape Verde and Mama Africa, Miriam Makeba from South Africa.

These musicians have seen me through sad times and brought calmness, joy and contentment in my soul when these were lacking. Their powerful songs can bring tears to the eyes or a smile to my face, depending on the ocassion. This list would also be very long thus, I am concentrating on five.

Harare Diary remembers Zoliswa Nkonyana, a young 19-year-old lesbian who was murdered in Cape Town on the 4th February this year. She wonders

why Nkonyana’s vicious assault took over two weeks to filter from the streets to the media, finally ending up as a page 7 story in a weekly newspaper. Would it have been different if Nkonyana had been middle class, middle aged or a visiting foreigner like Amy Bhiel, instead of just a queer girl from the ghetto?

SisiOgeBlogs!
a mother herself choose to honour those women “who do wonderful and great acts of their feminism but choose not to give birth”. She writes that despite choosing not to have children, this should not be confused with the act of mothering.

I would like to praise and thank these women for showing that mothering is not synonymous with birthing. It’s not something that gets switched on during childbirth but a feeling that comes from a deeply entrenched selfless love and is and always remains absolutely and enduringly unconditional.

Nubian Soul chooses poetry to honour Madam Tinubu, The Iyalode of Egbaland and other warrior women of Nigeria.

Warrior, trader, freedom fighter, History tries to erase you, but we will never forsake you, Your blood runs through our veins, we will never be bowled over in shame, left to be declared a ‘weaker sex'

But respectfully madam, you were not the first and you will not be the last, before you there were more, Queen Bakwa Turunku of Zazzau (now Zaria) gave birth to Amina, You became Queen Amina in the mid 1500's

Nakeel honours her father's girlfriend…

She is a woman with a big heart, kind, caring and very accommodating. She always has an ear for everyone and a place for all. Can put a shelter for those who need one at any time.
I am what I am today for she built me to be. I wear a smile for she told me a good girl is always happy. Am confident because she built it in me. Am a conquer for she taught me how to be one. Am disciplined for she made sure that I be no matter how painful it was to inflict it.

Kenyan Pundit has chosen to honour all the women that ran for and won political office this past year.

Ellen Sirleaf Johnson of Liberia - the first elected female President in Africa; Michelle Bachelet former defense minister and first female President of Chile; Portia Simpson-Miller, a former minister of local government in Jamaica, won the presidency of the ruling People’s National Party and who will take over the premiership from retiring P.J. Patterson in Jamaica; Angela Merkel first female chancellor in Germany.

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