Archive for
October 4th, 2006
Stories
China: Media literacy, meetings, Macau, memories and mooncakes
Do Chinese police see bloggers as some sort of criminal element? Blogging undisturbed nearly requires a mastermind these days, and it's getting worse. Liu Di (刘荻), aka Stainless Steel Mouse, imprisoned in late 2002 for over a year for writings she'd posted on the internet, updated her blog late last month [zh] following six months of silence with examples of what she suspects are traps being set by authorities—just days and months prior to high-level government meetings in China—aimed at the kind of blogger that she used to be.
(more…)
The Week that Was - Bolivian Blogs
The Bolivian blog community continues to grow by leaps and bounds. In addition to its own website, Blogs de Bolivia, where new blogs are added to the blogroll on an ongoing basis, there is a Yahoo! groups specifically for this community to communicate amongst themselves. Another blog project was created in December of 2005 as a form of collaborative interaction, which has attracted the interest of many Bolivian bloggers.
El Punto de Vista (Point of View) is, according to its own description, a “participatory project that shows a view from one’s window.” The site’s creator Patricia Vargas blogs at påt®i©iå, which is a blog devoted to art, urbanism and architecture. The site invites anyone to send in pictures from one’s own window and sharing what they see on a daily basis.
Members of the Bolivian blog community have especially taken an active interest in this project, such as Javier Rodriguez, a blogger at Diario de un Demente Frustrado (ES), Ron Del Dia (ES) in Santa Cruz also provides images from various locations, and Toussant, a blogger at La Voz de La Inconciencia (ES). However, the photos are not limited to views from Bolivian windows, as photos from Argentina, Peru and Romania also are included in the site.
Photo of Cochabamba, Bolivia, taken by Eduardo Avila and part of the El Punto de Vista project.
Recently, the site was featured in an article the Santa Cruz newspaper El Deber. The coverage helped revive the project after a two month layoff and caused traffic to spike as a result of the mention in the newspaper and website. This is only one example of a way that members of the Bolivian blog community have collaborated to produce a new and exciting project using these new social software technologies.
Russia, Georgia: Unfriendly Relationship
A Tbilisi, Georgia, spice seller: “I was taking some photos in the Tbilisi's market and this lady, instead trying to sell me something, she asked me a portrait.” - by tomaradze
Georgia (population approx. 4.4 million) arrested four Russian soldiers last week, charging them with espionage. Russia (population approx. 142.4 million) reacted by accusing Georgia of “state terrorism,” recalling its ambassador as well as other diplomats and their families, imposing a travel and postal ban, and threatening to adopt a bill that would prevent Georgians living in Russia (approx. 1 million) from sending money (approx. $300 million each year) back home. On Monday, Georgia handed over the alleged military intelligence officers to the OSCE, and they were later flown back to Russia. Today, Russian president Vladimir Putin advised Georgia not “to talk to Russia in the language of provocation and blackmail,” after which the Russian parliament passed a motion condemning the Georgian leadership.
LJ user plushev writes (RUS) that the current sanctions against Georgia aren't too different from the ban on Georgian wine and mineral water imposed by Russia in May 2006:
The Georgian story repeats itself: fake justifications for pressure. Aeroflot's flights are cancelled because Georgian air companies are bankrupt - that's original. Postal transactions are suspended because it sometimes happens that this money isn't paid in Georgia - amazing care for the Georgian population. Why is my biggest country in the world, the country that aspires to some [leading] role in this world, is acting like a [small doggie], afraid to say this out loud: “Guys, we're doing this to you because of this and that.” Who is it afraid of?
Here are some responses (RUS):
Kurdistance
Welcome back to this week's edition of Kurdistance!
Hiwa gives us a wonderful link to a amatur video about the Kurdish community in Leeds, UK that is featured on the BBC. Hiwa also reports on an incident that has made headlines in Turkey. At a recent NATO seminar, an American lieutenant colonel used a map of the Middle East showing possible re-drawn borders in Iraq. On this particular map the Southeast of Turkey was included in the borders of a new country called “Free Kurdistan”. This has angered Turkish officals and an apology from US General Peter Pace had to be given to the Turkish Chief of Staff, General Yasar Buyukanit for the incident.
General Yasar Buyukanit has been a vocal opponent to all things Kurdish this week, as Rasti explains
Nepal: Peace In Limbo
The seven party alliance and the Maoists were to meet for their summit talks some time in September, but it did not happen. Prime Minister Girija Koirala asked for some extra time. Now the decisive talks are supposed to take place on October 8. Both sides have been posturing. The Maoists supremo Prachanda has vowed to lead street protests in the capital city with the goal of taking over state power if the peace talks fail. Koirala keeps hammering the point that the Maoists must disarm before the political issues can be resolved.
United We Blog has this: Update on Peace Process: Today’s Political Developments:
“….. there are very few reasons to be hopeful about SPA coming in one voice regarding the most crucial issue: the monarchy. Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala is hell bent on giving space to monarchy, that is, saving the institution that the popular and historic April uprising clearly wanted to be abolished…… possible stand on interim constitution, formation of interim parliament and interim government, and to which extent the government and the party can be flexible in the talks with the Maoists……both sides gave thoughts on managing armies of both sides in three steps: First, both armies will be confined on barracks, second, verification and separation of Maoists armies from weapons and, third, integration of Maoist armies into Nepali Army, Nepal Police and Development Army.”
Trinidad & Tobago: “Please stand. . . for something”
Click on the image to play video
On the day of the reading of Trinidad and Tobago's 2007 budget — which, from the talk on the streets, could include all manner of life-changing proposals — I figured this conceptual video by Trinidadian multimedia artist Elspeth Duncan would be a timely presentation. Says Elspeth:
This video was created from footage I shot of various protests taking place in Trinidad between late 2005 and early 2006. It represents the collective voice of the people at a time when the republic of Trinidad & Tobago is going through crisis and experiencing transformation on many levels. The statements (written in bold) below are from placards held and t-shirts worn within the video. The first few opening bars of music in the video are the first few bars of the national anthem of Trinidad & Tobago, for which it is always requested of us: “Ladies and gentlemen, please stand.” The video takes this request a step further and calls for each of us, once and for all, to stand for something.
(Rest of music - Elspeth Duncan, from the CD Manzanilla) (…more)
Links for Wed, 2006-10
Le Blog de Moi (Fr) describes the debate over after which anticolonialism thinker to name Martinique's international airport: Aimé Césaire or Franz Fanon. Fanon, although born in Martinque, is not well-known there. The balance has tipped in favor of Césaire who, still living, publically refused to meet with French Interior Minister Nicholas Sarkozy in advance of his visit because of his support for “an active French presence overseas.”
The blogger at The Final Word in Saigon visits Con Dao, an island in the South China Sea. The blogger posts pictures and some observations from the island. “If I had to pick one adjective to use for Con Dao, it would be ‘rugged', although that may be influenced by the wind and rain we experienced. The coastline, interior, and beaches were dramtic anyway, and it's always great to drive a motorbike along a windy coastal road whilst enjoying the views.”
The blogger at Sensintrovert analyses a news report on Malaysian Prime Minister talking about Malaysia's space efforts. The blogger feels that there is too much hype in the media. “I am amazed of the media-hype when some ministers clicked on a mouse or had video conferencing. I guess that is why blogs=devil. FYI, as mentioned above, I have my video conferencing with my family almost every now and then.”
Thai-Lao food blogger Manivan Larprom video blogs on how to prepare fish stuffed in Thai and Lao herb.
This is the haze season in South East Asia. The cause of haze is the open burning of land by the farmers to clear it for agriculture. SaS in Brunei talks of some ideas to help reduce haze.
Geoffrey Philp starts a survey: How has Rastafari — and Bob Marley — influences our lives?
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A citizen report at inmediahk.net on a demonstration for minimun wage in Hong Kong. Demand from demonstrators are HK$30 (US$3.5) per hour. While the existing fast food resturant (KFC) rate is HK$15 per hour (zh). More background information can be found at interlocals.net, the lowest hourly wage found in the market for cleaning ladies is HK$7 (US$1)per hour!
The European Union is funding a new media initiative to give Africa positive news coverage, reports Sociolingo.
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