Stories from 8 February 2008
Russia, Ukraine: Comments on Internet Censorship, Uncensored
Fourteen uncensored comments to a piece on “closed internet” in Russia, by anonymous readers of a Ukrainian news site, translated by La Russophobe‘s David Essel: “These outpourings do not deserve analysis. The levels of stupidity, ignorance, rabid anger, bile and sheer viciousness are staggering and that is all one needs...
Russia: “Still No Confirmation of Medical Care for Alexanyan”
Robert Amsterdam reports that there's “still no confirmation of medical care” for “fatally ill prisoner Vasily Alexanyan.”
Russia: “A Kiss – Off the Record”
Eternal Remont writes on a new Russian movie whose “fictional” hero resembles Vladimir Putin a lot: “The film was completed 5 yrs ago, but there has been speculation that the Kremlin delayed its release until now, weeks before Putin leaves office.”
WWII History: A Story of an Escape
De Rebus Antiquis Et Novis posts a story of the Soviet POWs’ escape from a Nazi forced labor camp during WWII.
Ukraine: WTO; Orange Coalition
Ukrainiana reports on Ukraine's WTO accession, and on PM Tymoshenko's view of the atmosphere inside the Orange coalition.
Ukraine: More Oil Paintings of Kyiv
Olechko continues to paint Kyiv's everyday life; more samples are here and here.
Ukraine, Russia: “Gas Wars II: A New Hope”
Leopolis reports on “a little bit of [Gazprom vs Ukraine] déjà vu.”
Ukraine: HIV/AIDS
Greetings From Kyiv reports: “Current statistics are that 1 in 70 Ukrainians are HIV positive and that this rate which is the highest in Europe is going to climb.”
China: Netizen Party announced
From forcing the rescue of hundreds of brick kiln slave laborers last year and seeing it through long after local bodies gave up to being analytical piranhas when dealt obvious official lies, and numerous examples in between, it seems some netizens have realized their comparative advantage over local government authorities...
Carnival: Videos from around the world
One way to know about a culture, is to see how they celebrate and why. Many countries share a common festival, the carnival, and each country gives a distinctive flavour to the celebration. Carnival usually takes place during the weeks prior to Lent in Catholic countries, and it's usually a time to revel, enjoy and feast before the 40 days of fasting and prayer in preparation of Easter begin. Citizen videos show us how carnival season was spent this year in Bolivia, French Guyana, Goa, India and Croatia.
Iran:Revolutionary Guards support conservative candidates
Shafieyan writes[Fa] that Mohmmad Ali Jafari, head of Revolutionary Guards,announced that conservative candidates should be supported in next parliamentary election. The blogger says “intervention of a millitary leader to support candidates is both illegal and immoral.”
India: After Super Tuesday
Indian Muslims Blog has an update on the electoral politics in the US, right after Super Tuesday.
Sri Lanka: Language and The Other
groundviews on how learning “the other”‘s language can bridge many gaps in conflict struck Sri Lanka.
Nepal: Elections and the future
Bahas on having faith in the democratic process of elections – and the not so obvious choices – self-determination or self-destruction.
India: Snow in Shimla
As North India reels under a cold wave, myHimachal brings us photographs from Shimla – snowed under.
India: Driving and Culture
Driving a Cultural Change has a series of videos intended to educate the Indian driver – and hopefully reduce the chaos on the streets.
Ghana: Suprises from the Africa Cup of Nations
Emmanuel writes about the Africa Cup of Nations in Ghana: “The surprise of yesterday was Ivory Coast's ouster from the championship. The Ivoirians probably underrated the Egyptians initially and before they started taking them seriously it was already late.”
Kenya: Bloggers rooting for peace and reconcilliation
After blogs and other online forums had becoming new avenues of channelling tribal prejudices, bloggers are now using the same avenues to express the need for peace and justice in Kenya.
Brazil: Free books online, no need to print
O Escriba [pt] has created a link to his online library, with free books available for download. Some of them are quite rare, others have been forbidden, such as Roberto Carlos’ biography. He has only an environmentally-friendly wish: “Please avoid printing them out, reading on the screen is not that...
Macau: The Year of the Rat
Leocardo [pt] has pictures of the New Year Celebrations in Macau. The blogger has also been publishing Year of the Rat's predictions for each sign in the Chinese Zodiac.
Mozambique: Don't we have anything?
“The companies belong to them, the shops belong to them, the bakeries belong to them, it is all theirs. And us, don't we have anything?”. Carlos Serra [pt] heard this phrase from a lady from Inhagóia and wrote an interesting analyses following up the incidents in Maputo, Mozambique, last Monday....
