Archive for
July 28th, 2006
Stories
Russia, Ukraine: Stories About Words
Below is the translation of three stories about words: in the first one, they are being banned; in the second, they offend; in the third, there aren't enough of them.
LJ user plushev, a Russian radio journalist, writes (RUS) about the government's attack on the name of the controversial National Bolshevik Party (NBP):
All words, words, words
These people are for some reason afraid of words. […]
The Federal Registration Service has asked RosOkhranKultury [Russian Culture Protection Department] to punish the mass media that cover NBP. On what grounds? Because when they call NBP a party, these mass media are spreading false information, since NBP isn't registered as a party. According to this logic, those who aren't members of the Writers' Union cannot be called writers. By the way, I still remember that this is exactly how it used to be in the Soviet times. But what's most interesting is that folks at RosOkhranKultury are totally confused themselves:
RosOkhranKultury recommends calling the National Bolshevik Party of the Bolsheviks “the party that calls itself NBP.” […]
So is it a party or not? And is [the RosOkhranKultury representative] spreading false information by calling NBP “a party that calls itself NBP”?
I asked [Eduard] Limonov [leader of NBP] today why there is such a fear of words - maybe he, as a literary master, has an idea. He said that history doesn't know a single case where something ceased to exist after a forcible extraction of the word [its name] from the lexicon.
Nepal: Another Round Of Talks
The Nepali blogosphere is agog on the impending talks between the Maoists and the seven party alliance.
United We Blog has a few stories: Maoists Quibble Over Returning Seized Property, Nepal Peace Process: All Eyes On Friday High Level Meeting, Spring Thunder In Nepal…Glorious But Inconclusive-II, Nepal Budget: A Few Numbers and Maoist Disagreement, Independent Army (Nepal Army Behaves Like Parallel Government), Nepali Village Story: Maoist Lock House, Parents Kicked Out, Son Leaves Army Job.
“Dari katera aayeko dekhda pharkelan jasto lagdaina” [Seeing them coming clean shaven, I feel that they will not return back to Jungle.] …. a boy named Aasish threw those remarks which I remember every time I see clean shaved Maoist leaders Prachanda, Dr. Baburam Bhattarai and Krishna Bahadur Mahara.
INSN has posted two interviews with Dr. Baburam Bhattarai from other sources. Bhattarai is one of the top two Maoist leaders.
We wanted full democracy to be enjoyed by the vast majority of the people; basically the downtrodden poor people, women, Dalit, oppressed nationalities, Madhesis…….. Our ideology is not that dogmatic and rigid. Our ideology is a science, which has to develop according to the demands of the 21st century. As they say, Marxism is not a dogma but a guide to action………Our insurgency or our movement was totally independent and totally homegrown. We did not seek any support – physical or material – from anybody else……… the US makes statements – very unwarranted and disturbing statements – ……. Things have changed but Moriarty seems to be sticking to the old mindset of the Cold War era. ……. Arms will be laid down only after the election of CA. Before that nobody is going to lay down their arms – neither the Nepal Army nor the PLA…….. In every place including South Africa, Latin or Central America or Northern Ireland, none of the conflicting parties have laid down their arms before the final political settlement……… Nepalese economy is already in private hands. Ninety-five percent of economy is in private sector. So, there is no question of privatization, it is already privatized…….. I think within few weeks, we will be able to have interim constitution.
Democracy For Nepal (DFN) has proposals for federalism and an interim constitution. DFN talks of an Interim Monarchy, Interim Army, Interim Parliament and of April Revolution, April Convention.
Both DFN and Samudaya have extensive photos from the ANA Convention, dubbed the largest Nepali event outside of Nepal. Sarahana Shrestha of Samudaya talks of (more…)
Comic Strips and Blogs: Not Everything is Text
Usually, blogs are associated with written text. But for some time now, an interesting transformation is taking place in the blogosphere, and the methods used are more varied. In Argentina, comic strip blogs are becoming more common and many times they're made by people with trajectory in low circulation magazines. The phenomenom even has an aggregation blog, Historietas Reales (ES), which reunites a series of strip cartoonists who also have their own blogs.
The idea behind Historietas Reales is simple: they are the authors' personal stories, which anchors topics to everyday life situations. From Monday to Friday, two strips are published, while on Saturday and Sunday three strips are published. This project has the participation of Federico Reggiani and Fran Lopez on Autobiografo (ES); Fabian Zalazar on Yo conmigo; Diego Agrimbau and Dante Ginevra on El Asco; Andrés Biscaisaque and Hernán Cañellas on Martini Seco; Mr. Exes on El gabinete de Mr. Exes; Ernán on Como me hice rico y famoso; Ángel Mosquito on Granjero de Jesú; Clara Lagos on Clarísimos días; Rodrigo Terranova on La Divina Oquedad; Carolina Moadeb on Indecentemente Cursi; Max Aguirre on Los resortes simbólicos; Andrés Iommi on Mis problemas con los cómics; Z.A.P. on Quien es Z.A.P; Kwaichang Kráneo on La Cárcel de ocho huesos; Marco Guzmán on Jorgete y sus amigos. The idea to reunite them all on one single blog is great, since it lets readers follow them more easily and at one specific location. Especially for now, those users are still in a minority.
La semana onirica also is collective blog that features dreams as a main topic. Everyday new stories are published, except on weekends.
Another group of strip cartoonists that keep a collective blog is reunited under the name “Mama, soy famoso” (mom, I'm famous). In this case, there isn't such an obvious theme as in Historietas Reales, so there's a wider variety of topics, but it always emphasizes humor.
Historietas Aquelarre is a blog made by three cartoonists: Caio di Lorenzo, Federico Baert and Marcos Vergara. They define their project as “an anthology of strip comics made from 1990 to now, by the three most ignored artists in history on a last attempt to be discovered by a “Maecenas”.
On a similar line of Historietas Reales, with autobiographic stories, there is Liniers: Cosas que te pasan si estas vivo (things that happen when you're alive), by an Argentinean cartoonist very popular for his work in La Nacion newspaper, where he publishes his strip comic “Macanudo”. And Esteban Podetti, a cartoonist with a long legacy in comic books in Argentina, has a blog where he mixes humor and drawings, and that is published in the Argentinean newspaper Clarin under the name of “Yo contra el mundo” (me against the world).
DRC: Last Minute Campaigning and Complaining
As Sunday's presidential election approaches, and the campaign period closes today, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) bloggers chronicle last minute campaigning and complaining by some of the 30 or so candidates and other actors.
Candidates' Backgrounds
Prince du Fleuve du Congo continues a debate with Christian Geraud about Joseph Kabila and the merits of the many allegations that question the candidate's nationality, his filiation to Laurent Kabila and other outstanding questions on his background. The blogger posts Christian Geraud's latest email debunking the various allegations. Geraud generally believes that there are not enough facts to substantiate the various rumors about Kabila:
Est-ce vrai que Kabila avait incarcéré son épouse, est-il vrai que Joseph Kabila l'en avait sorti et est-il vrai que c'est Joseph Kabila qui avait déconseillé à son père de se rendre au sommet de l'Union Africaine. (…) Rien qu'en examinant ces trois premières questions, je constate qu'ils n'y a aucun fondement sur les faits avérés et donc c'est tout à fait normal qu'il n y ait de réponses pour elles.
Light in the Heart of Darkness chronicles some of the last minute moves of other candidates, including Bemba's walk from the airport to Kinshasa, and his decision to start a fire near his own campaign headquarters to burn the belongings of squatters camping near it. In the process, she provides some background on the candidate. She also tells us about Ruberwa's whereabouts.
More and More Candidates Skeptical About Process
Le Blog du Congolais notes that a growing number of candidates are denouncing irregularities and wonders why they waited until the last minute to echo some of the gripes that Union pour la Democratie et le Progres Social (UDPS) leader Etienne Tshisekedi had all along:
(more…)
War in Lebanon and Privatization
The Lebanon war is still hot news in Iran and Iranian bloggers talk about it. By reading some blogs we discover a very original approach to protesting against war, taking place in Tehran.
Demonstrating with George Habash photo
Nasle Farda writes about an original demonstration in Tehran against war. The blogger writes 70 to 80 people demonstrated in Park Vali Asr in Tehran against war in Middle East and all over the world [Fa]. Most of these people wore red T shirts with Bread, Peace, and Freedom slogan on them. They did not chant death to this or that country .The blogger says
بر روي اين پارچه سرخ به زبان فارسی و همچنین انگلیسی نوشته شده بود كه جنگ بر ضد انسانيت را متوقف كنيد نكته ديگران كه عكس هايي از كشتار مردم و ويراني هاي جنگ در میان تجمع كنندگان ديده مي شد همچنين عكس هايي از جرج حبش و ديگر رهبران چپ گرايي فلسطيني در ميان تجمع كنندگان به چشم مي خورد. در این تجمع ضشعاري سرداده نشد و تنها پلاكاردهايي با اين مضامين :
كارگران تل آويو با اعتصاب خود ماشین جنگي اسرائيل را فلج كنيد
دستان هاي امپرياليسم از خاورمينه كوتاه. نان صلح آزادی.
Links for Fri, 2006-07
From Port-au-Prince, Marcel Salnave posts (Fr) an article written by his journalist father of the same name in 1941: “our capital is embellishing under the welcome influence of urban planning. Gardens designed according to the demands of art have replaced almost everywhere our empty lots and where weeds once existed, there are now only shrubs with soft branches and ornamental plants sculpted by landscapers. All surrounded inevitably by lawns.”
Sean's Russia Blog posts an update on Andrei Sychyov's case and writes about cruelty in the Russian army.
neweurasia reports on Kazakhstan's entry into the nuclear age, the construction of several nuclear power plants in partnership with Russia.
Atanu Dey on why One Laptop Per Child isn't the right solution to India's education issues. “Attention and funds need to be directed to those issues first before one starts buying laptops by the millions. Fact is that we need basic education (literacy, numeracy, etc) and secondary education.”
Ultrabrown has a wonderful photo-post on one of the landmarks in Mumbai, the Haji Ali Dargah.
Gaurav comments on one of the sentiments in the Indian blogosphere which appears to celebrate Israel's hardline approach in Lebanon. He reminds us that the terrorism within the country is of far more importance. “But until that day, make your peace with the fact that on an average, the most daring thing an Indian politician will ever do will be introducing newer reservations and/or boldly take the fiscal deficit where no FM has ever taken it before.”
This site is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License
Please read our attribution policy.
Katharine Ganly8 posts 
Henry C.2 posts 
Bob Chen78 posts 
Abdurahman Warsame5 posts 
vergilyeh1 posts 
Keta Haluha3 posts 
Sara Moreira13 posts 
Faisal Kapadia7 posts 
Eduardo Avila2031 posts 
Syafique Shuib3 posts 
Belen Bogado8 posts 
Minax1 posts