Bahrain's Internet scene witnessed what could be described this week as ‘no step forward and 10 steps backwards!'
On Monday, newspapers reported that the Kingdom would ban Google Earth.
‘(T)he Ministry of DISinformation has instructed the Bahrain Internet Exchange to block Google Earth. Possibly because through Google Earth, the whole world, let alone the Bahraini users, can zoom in and have a good look at palaces and islands which a normal Bahraini wouldn’t even dream of one day coming close to, let alone stepping foot in, and the glaring confiscation of virtually all but 3% of beaches of the islands,' wroteMahmood Al Yousif.
The next day, a more relaxed Mahmood wondered whether the ministry's Big Brother tactics were stemming from a weak culture, which needed the State's moderation and control.
0 comments · »»‘Some would say that certain kind of information must be censored due to the community sensibilities; however, I contend that if the only way to defend those sensibilities is by banning access to competing views, then those sensibilities are by definition too weak to withstand the challenge and should be discarded. Hence, the recent decision by the Ministry of Information to block some sites it purports contain material “alien to our culture” - which has become its trademarked cry for imposing its ill-conceived Big Brotherly restrictions - then the question is: is our culture and moral fiber so weak that they cannot withstand the challenge posed by these websites and the ideas contained within them?' he argues.
Links and headlines from two BBC Chinese stories found at the end of a post [zh] today from Blogbus blogger Boy70:
The first mentions a China Eastern pilot who after flying from Shanghai to Los Angeles applied for asylum as a Falun Gong practitoner, and the second tells the story of Hangzhou-based Haiyang newspaper (中国海洋报) reporter Zan Aizong (昝爱宗), detained on August 11 after reporting on the destruction of a church in the Eastern province of Zhejiang and criticizing government persecution of Christians. Zan is expected to be released on August 18.
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One Man Band Width talks about his friend who travelled to China to date with a girl he encountered via internet.
Danwei posts the an article, Necessary Evil? Piracy offers Chinese an unprecedented window to the Western world, by Kaiser Kuo. Kuo is a co-founded China's first heavy metal band, Tang Dynasty, in 1989.
Positive solution talks about how China Daily reports on the release of Jiang Zen-min's selected works: “There was no front page news story upon release Wednesday, in fact, there was no staff-written news story at all, rather just a small amount of the Xinhua story…”
Peijin Chen in Shanghaiist blogs about the Annual Adult Care Expo (Sexpo) in Shanghai.
William long blogs about a rumour in China internet: In China netizen cannot search “Nanjing Massarce” and “Diaoyutai” in Google search, but can reach “Senkaku Islands” (Japanese name of Diaoyutai) via the search engine. The rumour then spreads out that Google has a pro-Japan stand. It reflects the fact that many netizens are ignorant of the existence of the Great Fire Wall and that the word “massarce” was blocked by the government (zh).
Gusts Of Popular Feeling has a post on the history of Seoul with some precious photos on 19 Century Namdaemun.
Darin in Occidentalism introduces a most controversal and bestselling conservative author and manga artist, Kobayashi Yoshinori.
Matt in Occidentalism brings reader's attention to the suicide of a Vietnamese woman in South Korea: “a matchmaker arranged international marriage between a 44 year old Korean man and a 21 year old Vietnamese woman has ended in suicide after 7 months.”
Adamu in Multantforg tells the readers that Yasukuni Shrine, Japan’s controversial unofficial war memorial, is having financial trouble.
ESWN translates Apple Daily's Sunday features on what the hot issues are in Hong Kong Internet.
ESWN blogs about another rural land dispute in China: Yanshi Incident - “ I really don't know how else to get you to understand the inhumanity of it all …“
Simon blogs about the government proposal of goods and services tax (GST): “endless TV ads extolling the virtues of the GST, dressed up as a public service announcement…how much taxpayer money has been and will be spent on this fruitless exercise?”
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iranian President has started his own blog in four languages. In his first post he talks about his life. On his blog the following question is asked: Do you think that the US and Israeli intention and goal by attacking Lebanon is pulling the trigger for another world war? Visitors are invited to vote yes or no to the question.
Watching the a newscast about the foiled bomb plot and the relative youth of the plotters, Jamaican writer Marlon James asks: “could it be that the one thing we all have in common is that we are screwing up our boys?”
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