Archive for
June 8th, 2006
Stories
Storms and rain in Chile
Pancho Cornejo show us the capital rain collecters in this photo.
The first rain arrived and half of the capital, Santiago, is flooded. One of the main reasons is that the urban ground of the city has erased the natural channel’s that drained the water accumulated in the mountains towards the sea. So now the water stays in the streets. The title of the post of Sebastián (ES) “Why is this big news?” ironically referring to the consequences of the rain, let us understand the citizens' mood. He explans the reasons “First: because in more than a year that we don’t have rain and we miss it Second: The pollution. Santiago is a valley and the only way to clean the air is the rain, because we don’t have wind. Third: Because Santiago doesn’t have a drainage network and when it rains it’s flooded”. Margot (ES) posts that “they said that the drainpipes collapsed because they are dirty with leaves and litter and in consequence the city flooded”. “Regions sin Fronteras” (ES) says the streets intersections in the capital are affected by the flood and also refers to the storm in the south of the country which have affected 631 people. El Mercurio (ES) , said the number of victims is closer to 2000.
Playboy Indonesia and Two Contradictory Opinion
There are two interesting contradictory responses regarding the second edition of Playboy Indonesia which was released from its new office in Bali. Budi Putra thinks that the second issue is “skinner”:
The edition, which hit newsstands across the country on Wednesday, offers bolder content than the first.
The first issue on April 7 was a tame affair by the standards of the U.S. original, with less flesh visible than on many beaches, including those on Indonesia’s resort island of Bali, or than in many magazines already for sale in the country.
On why Playboy faces strong opposition in Indonesia:
Even so, the power of the Playboy name as the iconic symbol of relaxed Western attitudes toward sex drew strong opposition in Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim nation.
Rendy Maulana, on the other hand, feels the other way. He said he feels lucky to get the second edition and in his opinion nothing pornographic at all in it, at least compared to some other magazines like Maxim and FHM which are available in Indonesia much earlier and without any reaping any controversy.
He even feels sorry to those Playboy Indonesia's editorial boards who have to shift their office and even do not dare displaying ads out of fear to the Muslim radicals' threats.
Rendy Maulana and many of his blog's commenters seems to be representing the opinion of Indonesian younger generation who support the full-fledge freedom
than, say, Budi Putra whose opinion is able to wisely see the root cause behind the controversy from the international context.
China: New news anchors for a new decade
As with many mainstays of Chinese Communist Party infrastructure, the surreally socialist China Central Television (CCTV) faces an increasingly uphill battle against non-Party competitors. Viewers are increasingly drawn to privately-run television stations which dare to air many stories authorities would rather see ignored.
Factor in the growing numbers of—urban, educated—Chinese who choose the news offered by large portal sites such as Sina or Sohu and it's no wonder so many CCTV news presenters often have stone-cold faces. Or maybe announcing the same ideologically correct stories for two or three decades will do that to a person.
In a move welcomed across the country, two smiling new anchorpersons took their seats earlier this week in announcing CCTV's primetime nightly national news broadcast.
Here's what Bokee blogger KangKang had to say:
Exploding at the Iraqi Blogodrome
Finally a piece of news that mainstream media and blogs generally agree with. This morning the Iraqi Prime Minister announce that “We have eliminated Zarqawi”. And the news hit like an explosion on the Iraqi blogs.
Among the first to break with the news was Truth About Iraqi's.
Hell awaits this character known as “Zarqawi” if this news is confirmed.No more four-hour speeches against Shia, Sunni or anyone else.
Bin Laden's days numbered? Let's hope all these scum are erased.
BUT, I hope this does not deter or divert attention from the HADITHA MASSACRE. That investigation MUST continue. And those responsible for killing Iraqi civilians must be punished.
And Iraq The Model was not far behind. Omar was pleased to say the least:
CONGRATULATIONS TO IRAQ, CONGRATULATIONS TO THE WHOLE WORLD ON THIS VICTORY.
He goes goes on to provide some background information on the town where he was killed.
And with the happiness comes the analysis:
Riot Starter is skeptical: “The first thing that occured to me at hearing the news was “A much needed victory, huh?”. It is indeed a much needed victory for a Prime Minister who's status wasn't as he would have liked it to be. … And to all governments he's been an ideal scapegoat when it comes to justifying failures. But the thing is, if he's for real and has got followers, shouldn't we be more afraid now? If he existed and had followers, they're most likely to be outraged and planning to make everybody suffer for a payback. If he doesn't exist, … then his death won't make any difference for real. Now the our government as well as “other governments” will start looking pretty bad when they can't blame it all on terrorism and on “The Godfather of secterian killings and terror in Iraq” because they've announced him dead. Well it's two-way thing, they've announced him dead to appear good, just not for long enough.”
and Fatima is thoughtful:
How do I feel about that? … Iraqis have been suffering for decades now, going from war to war to war to sanctions to war. … They are tired. They want to move on. They are not happy that their country has been invaded, and much less so that the situation has only deteriorated after this invasion in terms of security and peace. …I can safely say that most Iraqis are happy, even ecstatic, with this news, but skeptical. Zarqawi was not a lone worker. He had a following, and they can continue their work without him. …
I do not wish death or punishment on anyone, not even those who hurt me. I only wish them guidance. I think Zarqawi may have thought he meant well, but he did it in all the wrong ways. May God show us what is right and allow us to follow it.
And Finally
Here are some parting words from the blogodrome.
Zarqawi without doubts went into the bottom of the Hell with blood of many innocent children, women and men in his dirty hands.
There were celebrations going on now in the holly city of Najaf and Kerbala. On the other hands there are sadness and shock among his allies in the region and abroad like Al-Jazeera Qatari TV and other Arab pro-terrorists thugs.
Zarqawi and his aides simply went to Hell and this is the worst fate for any one like them.
The BASTARD is DEAD!!!!!! 999 left to go, at least its a begining, i have never been more happier than when they caught the Rat in the hole!
Today is a great day in Iraq. … Congratulations to all the Iraqi people and to all those who suffered from the Zarqawi terrorism…
Iraqi women are ululating in the shy, face-covering manner of my country, and Iraqi men are boisterously firing celebratory shots in the air.
and Fayrouz:
Al-Zarqawi is dead. Good riddance.riddance. Who's their next leader in Iraq?
Interview with Allamezadeh & Ezati, Iranian Famous Movie Directors & Bloggers
Global Voices has interviewed two bloggers who are involved with the magic world of movies: Reza Allamezadeh & Amir Ezati. Let's start with Mr. Allamezadeh.
Reza Allamezadeh is an Iranian famous movie director, writer and blogger. Allamezadeh, based in Nederland, teaches cinema , continues his creative career and writes his blog in Persian. Iranian filmmaker released from political imprisonment after the 1979 Islamic Revolution and living in exile in the Netherland since 1982, has been writing and publishing novels and short stories in his native Persian and making a number of films, including 10 documentaries for Dutch television, a feature-length film, and several shorts for children. Many Iranian actors and actresses have collaborated with him including Shohreh Aghdashloo an Oscar nominee. Allamezadeh has always reminded me Costa Gavras. His last work which is a play about Dr. Mossadegh has been a great success among Iranians worldwide.
A scene from play & Mossadegh in Perisan
Reaching Iranian Directly
(more…)
The Kannada Context: Hear the nature of voices
The amplification of small sound bytes effects a joyful reverberation in a large room. I got a few mails/comments for my last post, The Kannada Context: Exclusive Identity and Other Stories. I also got to know interesting people. It is nice to see the feedback from a small, yet vibrant, community. In fact, it is such vibrance that keeps people like Shekhar Poorna young. He's passed the age when we all start feeling “ancient”, long ago; and he works at ungodly hours to keep a community alive. Fortunately, he is getting able support by a set of young enthusiasts. The Hindu has a small story about kannadasaahithya.com, spearheaded by Shekhar Poorna since the last 5 years - A Kannada Connection. There is yet another impressive initiative: a complete Content Management System (CMS) in Kannada, called Sampoorna. The sampoorna team quotes several valid reasons for this initiative. (Note - Most links in this post refer to blogs in Kannada language.)
Shekhar Poorna makes a mention of my last post in his editorial at kannadasaahithya, and gives his own insights about Kannada bloggers. He categorises them, and talks briefly about the nature of each blog. Well, we need voices. More of them, whatever be their nature. Meditative,
thoughtful, provocative, clairvoyant, silly or “othervoice” (er.. sorry about the pun ;) ). Blogs entice you to exercise your freedom. And people get out of inhibitions. Perhaps, that is why, Shubhaprada, who does not know how to read ot write Kannada, attempts a poem in Kannada, about “The time for Dinner”, which is eesentially a time for the family gathering, chinwag, and flow of memory. So what if the script is English, the cuisine is Kannada!
In Rujuvathu, about which I mentioned last time, Jnanapith (pronounced, dnyaa -na- pee- tha) award winner, U R Ananthamurthy writes about (more…)
Links for Thu, 2006-06
Luke Distelhorst reports on talks over coal and energy cooperation betwee Mongolia and China.
Leila discusses ties between Kazakhstan and Iran in the wake of a meeting between delegations of the two countries.
Registan.net writes about pressures on Turkmen musical traditions in Afghanistan and the influence of Western pop and hip-hop on music throughout Central Asia.
Jeremy, who is on his way to Armenia, sings the praises of Borjomi, Georgia, known to many in the Soviet Union as a summer retreat, the source of the country's famous mineral water, and a candidate for the 2014 Olympics.
Tinta Digital introduces (ES) “La Voz del Centro”, a radio show on Puerto Rican and Caribbean history and culture whose episodes are also archived online.
JT at the Caribbean Beat Weblog celebrates Zadie Smith's winning the Orange Prize for Fiction: “Zadie Smith is British but counts as Caribbean on account of her Jamaican mother and the multicultural world she lives in. . . . Don't worry about the critics who make much of this book being a homage to E.M. Forster and Howards End: it works in its own right. What's so impressive about it is the way it dramatises the cultural divide between younger and older generations, between whites and African Americans, between liberals and conservatives, and the internal divide that haunts everyone of mixed-race, mixed-cultural birth.”
Luis Carlos (ES), Jorge Letralia (ES), Zinnia Martinez (ES), and José Roberto Duque all partook in the event “Blogjournalism: Your Voice on the Web” at the Central University of Venezuela on Saturday.
Inka writes on Journal Peru that Ollanta Humala will not lead the UPP party. Humala ran under the party banner when his own Nationalist party failed to officially register in time.
Blog de mi Guatemala has an informative post on the Casa Mima Museum (ES) in the historic center of Guatemala City.
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