Archive for
February 12th, 2007
Stories
Russia: Subway Lezginka
A month ago, YouTube user KABARDINEC ('a Kabardian‘) posted three rather odd videos of two inspired young men dancing Lezginka at a subway station (here and here) and inside a train car (here), presumably in Moscow. Lezginka's origins are said to be in the ethnically diverse Republic of Dagestan, but variations of this beautiful folk dance are very popular throughout the Caucasus region.
LJ user ingushetiya_ru (Ingushetia) shared the subway train video with the blog's readers:
Below are some of the responses, translated from Russian:
andreykrot: Cool!
[…]
Anonymous: An idiocy.
Bangladesh: Can the power of one save the nation?
The hottest topic in Bangladesh now is that the Nobel Laureate Dr. Muhammad Yunus has expressed his intention to start a political party and run for the next election. In an open letter he has asked the people to provide their support and feedback to him and suggest how he can organize the party from the grass root.
Salam Dhaka says this move of Dr. Yunus will draw a new equation in Bangladesh politics, which is battered by bitter political acrimony between the major parties and their devastating political moves. Some people welcomed his entry and wished he can be successful like Dr. Mahathir Mohamad of Malaysia. Trivuz comments that he has the ability to break the tradition of nominating corrupted musclemen or business persons for election and winning by spending millions of black money. So people will have an option to support credible and competent politicians under his leadership. However there are also apprehensions whether he can do well in Politics. Journalist Shiblee Noman, while answering Yunus's letter, questions his experience in politics and warns that if he thinks he is the savior of Bangladesh then he is wrong. In democracy the power comes from the grass root, what people wants. So the question is whether Yunus is really being wanted by the public as a politician or the notion is imposed.
Addafication thinks that not a good man but a good system can save the country:
Dr.Yunus has an important role to play in Bangladesh society. But it is not in politics. His role is best fulfilled as part of the civil society, to strengthen it in lieu with politics which has to be strengthened by politicians, not civilians merely because they might be bigger achievers. No country is led simply by its most prolific achiever. We dont have to be too. And no country's problems can be solved by one man's initiative, or even two or three. It is the institutions that have to be cleansed.
Bangladesh is back to normalcy after the declaration of the state of emergency (more…)
Arabisc: Jordanian MPs Having a Ball!
Jordanian blogger Batir Wardam doesn't mince his words when he says that Jordan's Members of Parliament are in for a great weekend. After all, for a few hours of work, they enjoy the perks of being amongst the highest paid civil servants in Jordan.
Wardan isn't pleased that a date for the next parliamentary elections is yet to be set.
Recife, Brazil: Trumpeting 100 Years of Frevo, and Musical Innovation on the Eve of Carnival
Recife is the capital city of the state of Pernambuco in the northeast of Brazil. The pulse of Carnival has been growing in a crescendo in recent days, justly honoring it's fame of being among the three cities with the hottest festivals, along with Rio de Janeiro and Salvador. Recife is also known as the capital of Frevo, a rhythmic and musical movement which was born here and is celebrating 100 years since its recognition as a new style. Now, on its centennial it is being officially recognized as National Cultural Heritage by the government. With only five days to go before the main Carnival festivities, Frevo's anniversary party attracted artists from all over Brazil. Many stages dispersed throughout Recife's charming old downtown zone were kept busy with crews and musicians setting up equipment, rehearsing and performing.
Hoje, 09 de fevereiro, o Frevo comemora 100 anos. No século XIX era conhecido como marcha carnavalesca, mas em 1907 na edição do Jornal Pequeno, periódico da época, recebeu o nome de Frevo. O nome foi uma corruptela da palavra ferver que o povo simples, com seu português gostoso que não macaqueia a sintaxe lusíada - como escreveu Manuel Bandeira em seu Evocação ao Recife - falava “frever”. Daí para frevo foi um passo… Hoje, quando completa 100 anos, o frevo recebe o título do Patrimônio Cultural e Material do Brasil. Volta, por iniciativa oficial, a se mostrar para todos os brasileiros. Para os pernambucanos o frevo não é apenas patrimônio, é legado de identidade.
Série Carvanal de Pernambuco: Frevo de Bloco - Notícias do Planalto
Pernambuco's Carnival Series: Bloc-Frevo - Notícias do Planalto
Touring Libyan Blogs
The discussion continues from last week again on AngloLibyan who has brought up the topic of the Libyan AIDS stricken children as an offshoot of the previous week’s discussion about the Libyan AIDS stricken children.
Anglo Libyan highlighted this time the double standards carried out and the possibility of miscarriage of justice from the Bulgarian side. This is exemplified by the case of Michael Shields.
“Michael is a young English man who in 2005 was accused by the Bulgarian authorities of the attempted murder of a Bulgarian man who received severe head injuries. Michael Sheilds who was only 18 at the time was asleep when this crime happened as witnesses confirmed yet the police arrested him at his hotel, charged him with the crime and was sentenced to 15 years in a Bulgarian prison, after the sentencing another English man, Graham Sankey admitted to committing this crime and announced that he was prepared to co-operate with the Bulgarians and that Michael Shields should be freed. Surprisingly the Bulgarians refused this confession and insisted that they have the guilty man.[sic]”
Basically don’t throw stones at others if your own door is made of glass.
Links for Mon, 2007-02
Jamie from Two Koreas blogs about the background, debating points in the most recent Korea US FTA negotiation.
James from Japan Probe blogs about the anti-whaling action with a youtube video taken from the perspectives of Japanese whalers.
Chiao blogs a photo taken outside a Beijing bar which listed out various regulations, including: don't shit in our tiolet but U can pee…
Li Yinhe comments that the word “自由” (liberal and freedom) is too negative in China because of various political campaign agains “liberalism”. She hopes people can slowly make it a positive term (zh).
Malaysian blogger Jeff Ooi has a post on Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung participating in an online chat with the public. The primeminister took on questions on topics such as press freedom, the Vietnam War and government seizure of farmers' land for development.”
A new Arabic version of Richard III is being staged by a Kuwaiti troupe at the Swan Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon from 8 - 17 February 2007, says Kuwait blogger Mama Fusla. Set in the contemporary Arab world, this production of Richard III unfolds within the hothouse, feudal atmosphere of desert palaces in an oil-rich kingdom, she writes.
Kuwaiti blogger Desert Girl tells us how men are afraid of her because of her strong personality, her sense of loss at the death of Anna Nicole Smith and her favourite holiday - Valentine.
Lebanese blogger EDB wants to know the truth and is calling for an international tribunal to “try the drug dealers who supplied Anna Nicole (Smith) with a lethal overdose.”
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