Archive for
November 11th, 2006
Stories
Bloggers on the UN resolution condemning the US embargo against Cuba
On November 8, the United Nations General Assembly voted on a resolution aimed at condemning the US embargo against Cuba. Since then, bloggers have been actively sharing their opinions on the matter.
In 1960 the US government imposed an economic embargo against Cuba, hoping that this would help bring about a transition along with democratic and economic reforms. Every year since 1992, the UN General Assembly has tabled a resolution calling for the end of the embargo, and voting has always been overwhelmingly in favour of the lifting of the embargo. In spite of this, the US continues to maintain its position, arguing that the embargo is a bilateral issue that should not come before the Assembly.
But this year there was a twist. Australia, while still supporting the resolution, presented an amendment requiring the Cuban government to make certain changes in its democratic and economic structures. The blog Cuba Journal republishes a very thorough International Herald Tribune article about this year's voting process which offers some good background on the Australian amendment:
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The Week That Was in Bahrain
With the Godfather of Bahraini bloggers Mahmood Al Yousif out of the way and sick in hospital - possibly recuperating from his head-on collision with authorities over the blocking of his blog - his prodigies were out to play this week!
First and foremost I would like to extend a warm welcome to sarcastic blogger Bahrania, who has been missing in action lately.
The angry blogger is out to wreak havoc again in the Bahraini blogosphere, with much missed posts, which some of us may or may not agree upon. But debate is healthy and Bahrania continues to push the boundaries of free speech with often insightful and witty commentary on issues many of us would rather sweep under the carpet.
She announces her comeback by admitting how difficult it is to shut up:
“..its getting more and more difficult keeping my mouth shut… does anyone still visit this site??” she wrote.
Her prayer was immediately answered with a few comments from fellow bloggers, who were anxious for her return.
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Holding the line for Internet freedoms in Brazilian Cyberspace
The Brazilian cyberspace was shaken this week by the announcement of a ‘Digital Crimes Bill' under consideration at the Senate's Constitution and Justice Commission. Disclosing just one item in the bill was enough to ignite the fire. It stated that every user must fully identify herself before using the Net, or face a criminal process that could result in 4 years in jail. The author of this late amendment to the ‘Digital Crimes Bill' was Senator Eduardo Azeredo from PSDB, who was responsible for the report that modified the original text that had been developed in the Brazilian Congress across the last 7 years. The Senator thus managed to obtain what seemed to be impossible in the extremely diverse national blogosphere — a unanimous position — rejection.
O Senador Eduardo Azeredo, não contente em entrar para a história como a origem do mensalão, decidiu achar um caminho mais rápido para a imortalidade. O destino reservava-lhe papel mais grandioso, o de ser o senador que tentou aprovar um projeto que exige a identificação dos usuários antes de iniciarem qualquer operação que envolva interatividade, como envio de e-mails, conversas em salas de bate-papo, criação de blogs, captura de dados (como baixar músicas, filmes, imagens), entre outros. O projeto já foi saudado como demente, absurdo, inconstitucional, orwelliano, ditatorial, e produto de uma massa encéfalica que não tem a menor idéia de como funciona a internet.
A Internet do Sr. Eduardo Azeredo - O Biscoito Fino e a Massa
Mr. Eduardo Azeredo's Internet - O Biscoito Fino e a Massa
Links for Sat, 2006-11
The bloggers at Indonesia Anonymus are contemplating the topics the Indonesians want to discuss with American President George Bush and they seem to be running short of ideas.
Sanaga Peregrinations announces (Fr) that the prestigious literary Renaudot Prize was awarded to Congolese novelist Alain Mabanckou for his novel Memoires de Porc-Epic [Porcupine Memories]. Explains the blog: “Fine storyteller, Mabanckou takes the voice of a porcupine who confides in his friend the baobab and tells him of his life alongside his master Kibandi to whom he plays bad cop, occasionally committing murder.” The novel is written without punctuation.
On Thursday, Le Pangolin posted that (Fr) Claude Quemar, Secretary of CADTM France [Committee for the Cancellation of Third World Debt] was arrested in Niger presumably for participating in the Niger Social Forum. Today the blog announces that the activist was released last night but with “obligation to leave Niger … CADTM categorically opposes the expulsion and will continue … its fight to elaborate alternatives to the dominant economic model served by the authorities of Niger.”
Tout Haiti Blog points to (Fr) a Haitian news article on UNDP's latest human development country rankings stating: “The group of countries with weak human development only contains two non-African countries: Yemen and Haiti.”
Afro-Caribbean musician Rasheed Ali ponders the question: what is the concept of fine art in Africa? “For western thinkers and art collectors there may be a sense that these arts pieces are devalued by there sameness. Yet upon further examination we find that the style of many art pieces has been ritiualized over time.”
Ooi Boon-Leong writes another episode of his blog-memoir of Japanese occupation of Malaya during the World War 2. “It was a Japanese school in that it taught us the Japanese language, arithmetic and drawing. There were about 40 Chinese boys in a class and the form master was also a Chinese. There were other teachers who were Indians, a Sikh (the locals) and a Japanese woman. I later found out that the locals had been teachers in English schools before the coming of the Japanese. They must have taken a crash course in Japanese to teach Japanese. Later on after the Occupation they went back to teach in English schools.”
The filmmakers writing the lianlian blog take an unusual trip in Cambodia. “But then, Aki Ra invited us to join him on a demining expedition. The offer caught us off-guard. Triggered long, heated discussions and caused a few sleepless nights. How dangerous exactly, was a minefield? Did we really need the footage?”
Indinesia Matters reports that a bomb exploded in a fast food restaurant in Jakarta this morning. “The low-explosive bomb went off at the Kramat Jati Indah plaza branch of the American fast food chain in east Jakarta at about 13.00 today. One person, with the intitials MN, was hurt, he being the person who carried the bomb into the restaurant.”
Transcurrents.com on the escalating conflict in Sri Lanka. “The coastal village of Kathiraweli in the Eastern district of Batticaloa was the scene of Sri Lanka’s latest massacre of innocents in its on going ethnic conflict.”
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