Archive for
October 25th, 2006
Stories
Russia: Thoughts on LiveJournal/ZheZhe
The Second Blog War continues in Russia.
Brad Fitzpatrick, the LiveJournal's creator, has now joined the discussion over at sup_ru LJ community: in English, he offers some explanations and apologies here (and receives 248 comments so far) and lists the bloggers' most common questions and concerns here (123 comments so far).
Stepping aside for a moment, away from politics and the general noise, here are a few notes on what the Russian LJ represents for some bloggers - and why it would be such a pity to lose it.
LJ user kmaka (wife of LJ user nl, one of the best-known Russian bloggers) attended the party held for Brad Fitzpatrick during his visit to Moscow last week - Fitzvecherinka, the Fitz-Party, as she called it. She writes (RUS):
[…] I didn't see Fitzpatrick in person. I only heard him. But I was happy to see a whole bunch of people. This, in general, seems to be the essence of LJ to me - it's a major tusovka [hangout place]. And everything works according to the laws of tusovka. It'd be good to remember this. The panic attack has moved past me somehow. First, because for a long time I've been following the principle once formulated to me by nl - I write what I think, but I think with caution. Second, I believe in common sense. And third, there'll always be time to escape. And by the way, if Sup's first step would be to introduce a possibility of a journal backup, it'd be nice. […]
The Week that Was - Bolivian Blogs
What to do with the precious reserves of natural gas has been on the minds of Bolivians ever since their discovery. Recently, the governments of Bolivia and Argentina arrived at an agreement for Bolivia to sell gas to their neighbor to the south for the next twenty years at a price of $5 per million BTU, which would mean significant revenues for the country. Carlos Gustavo Machicado Salas of Guccio’s World [ES] said that the new deal was very effective from a political point of view after the disappointing halt to the hydrocarbons nationalization. Even though those on both sides of the political spectrum applaud the deal, there are still certain cautionary details to monitor, such as the supposed role of a foreign state company, Energía Argentina Sociedad Anónima (ENARSA).
Martin Gutierrez, a Bolivian studying in Argentina thinks the new deal was good for both President Evo Morales and President Nestor Kirchner. Both have been on the receiving end of rumblings in their respective countries, but Gutierrez wrote that this gas deal allowed both to take a breath. His blog is called Vitrina de la Realidad Boliviana [ES].
Es por eso que la firma del nuevo contrato de gas, les dio un respiro a ambos presidentes: primero por que ambos necesitaban esa foto que pueda darse como buena noticia. Segundo, por que el apoyo mutuo sirvió para que en ambos países la temperatura política baje y tercero, poder darle a los medios titulares donde la incapacidad de manejar a las bases sindicales no sea tema del día.
This new gas contract gave both presidents a chance to take a breath: both needed that photograph as a bit of good news. Second, the mutual support served both countries so that the political temperature lowered and third, it gave a bit of news to the media so that the governments' incapacity to control the syndical movements was no longer the top story.
Global Voices Delhi Summit: Join us in December!
Please join us for the Global Voices 2006 Summit, December 16th in New Delhi, India!
The Global Voices Summit, on December 16th, will be our annual opportunity to take stock, come together and explore our central question: How can we use the Internet to build a more democratic, participatory global discourse? How can we create a more inclusive conversation about what is happening on our planet, and how human beings in different parts of the world are impacting each other in countless ways we don't realize every day?
This year we also hope to address two further questions:
WHO WILL BE ATTENDING?
Global Voices editors, contributors, community members, interested bloggers and journalists. Basically, anybody who is interested in what it means for media, geopolitics, and global society when the whole world starts talking online.
(more…)
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New Round of Violence in East Timor
In her latest post from East Timor, blogger Timorsunshine writes about the latest incident in Dili.
Apparently the gang war ranging in the airport area has become so bad that the Comoro bridge was blocked off and the airport actually shut down, and attacked by the people living in the camp nearby. The AirNorth flight was cancelled and apparently 2 international soldiers were hurt in the fray, and that real bullets (not GNR rubber ones) were flying about.
The perpetual cycle of violence has the blogger frustrated
I'm really quite disappointed with the state of affairs here. Just last week, things were still quite calm but now the #$%%^^&* are out making trouble again. And with the airport closed - it's bad bad bad PR in the world man! It's like Lebanon being attacked by Israel except our airport got attacked by angry disenfranchised locals.
The blogger at Dili-gence writing from Dili, the capital of East Timor was (more…)
Hong Kong: “zero-charge” tours
The “zero-charge” tours scandal is a distinctive “free-meal” feature in Chinese capitalist society. It happens in Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan, targeting at Mainland China tourists.
How does this “zero-charge” tours come into being? Chong interlocals.net gives some background on the issue:
Incredibly low fees or “zero-charge” tours are strategies to lure people to join tours and the travel agencies make money by forcing tourists to buy souvenirs from shops who offer commissions to tour guides and travel agencies. In order to reduce cost to minimum, accomodation and meal are certainly low quality. In some cases, the tour guides only lead the tourists to designated shops rather than any tourist attractions.
Links for Wed, 2006-10
DANWEI has translated Wang Xiao Feng's post on “The paradox of registering bloggers' real names”(zh).
The China Media project reports that Chongqing police admit error in arresting author of satirical poem.
Shang dan at Shanghaiist advises the readers not to travel to Beijing early Novemeber as the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) will be taking place, and the traffic will be in total chaos.
Trinidad blogger Jeremy Taylor returns to the “quiet corner of the mudder country” (England) where he grew up: “There ought to be a name for this state of mind. (Perhaps there is.) When your head is split between two worlds.“
After seeing a play based on Dominican writer Jean Rhys's “remarkably screwed up life”, Jamaican novelist Marlon James wonders: “Must every great artist have a self hating streak? Didn't Jean Rhys transfer hers to writing and Naipaul to everybody just like him? Is happiness a false goal for an artist?“
Trinidadian blogger Jonathan Ali receives a stark reminder that the country's deep-seated crime problem affects everybody.
Onnik Krikorian recounts some horror stories from the Armenian medical system, saying that seeking medical care in Armenia might be more dangerous than Russian roulette.
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