17 May 2008

Stories from 17 May 2008

Argentina: High Speed Train a Bad Idea

  17 May 2008

The constuction of a high speed train linking the Argentine cities of Buenos Aires and Rosario and Córdboa is ready to begin at a cost of 4 billion dollars. Fabio M. Baccaglioni provides a lengthy list of reasons why this is a bad idea and will negatively affect many groups....

Iraq: BlogIraq is Dead

I am sad to report the death of Ahmed the writer of the blog BlogIraq who was murdered in the Al-Mansour district of Baghdad. May he rest in peace. Also, waiting for war to come in Mosul. And find out which world leader one young Iraqi looks to as a role model for the country.

Lebanon: Agree or stay away

“On the way to Beirut International Airport, members of the ‘Handicapped Union’ and other NGOs tell Lebanon's politicians, war lords, inflated clowns & others not to return if they fail to settle their differences,” writes Friday Lunch Club about the Lebanese leaders peace talks taking place in Qatar.

Brazil: Making your blog speak tongues

  17 May 2008

Tiago Dória [pt] tips bloggers about Der Mundo, a multilingual publishing tool for blogs whose “idea is to follow a hybrid model in which machine and the readers themselves translate”. The Brazilian blogger remarks that besides culture differences, the language barrier is still a conversation stopper in the web.

Armenia: Sirusho Eurovision Interview

Krik! Music Corner posts an interview it held with Armenia's entry into the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest, Sirusho, while she was on promotional tour last week. The blog was impressed by the young singer who it says was beautiful, kind and friendly.

Armenia: Sirusho Eurovision Rehearsal, Opposition Urges Boycott

The Armenian Observer posts video of the first rehearsal by Armenia's entry into next week's Eurovision Song Contest in Belgrade, but also reports that opposition plans to urge a boycott of the young local pop star, Sirusho, continue. Regardless, with interest in Eurovision and Sirusho eclipsing local political frictions, my...

Diaspora: Armenian-American Homophobia

Writing on its blog, The Armenian Gay & Lesbian Association of New York reports on a recent anti-homophobic event at a Glendale school and the ensuing battle of words that materialized in the local press between ethnic Armenians living in the United States.

Brazil: Brazilian Network of Virtual Memory

  17 May 2008

Marcos Palacios [pt] brings the news of a project that aims to automate and make available online collections of all national institutions which have a visual or textual heritage. “The Brazilian Network of Virtual Memory is a project that concerns all of us. And it depends on our support and...

Armenia: News Roundups

The Armenian Observer rounds up and comments on the news headlines of the week. Not unpredictably, the main topic discussed in the local media was the post-election situation in Armenia although interestingly, the focus is more on the personal conflict between the first two presidents rather than the new elected...

Armenia: International Day Against Homophobia

To mark International Day Against Homophobia, Unzipped: Gay Armenia posts its Unzipped: Gay Armenia List 2008 which recognizes individuals, organizations, media outlets, blogs and events which have worked towards promoting gay rights and equality in Armenia and the Diaspora. The blog, which coincidentally celebrates its first anniversary today, also posts...

China: Right Time to Question

  17 May 2008

Many comments said that the whole nation should focus on rescue and put aside criticisms. Garbledtext from Bullog pointed out that it is a right time to question in order to avoid further mistake during the earthquake rescue [zh].

Japan: Bloggers criticize Greenpeace over whale-meat theft

  17 May 2008

The reputation of Greenpeace Japan appears to have dropped a few notches this week, with news that the organization, in order to expose the theft of whale meat by crew members of a whaling research ship, itself stole meat to use as evidence of the crime. Members of Greenpeace Japan admitted to having entered a delivery company's distribution center in Tokyo on April 15th without permission in order to seize packages of whale meat.

China: Dealing with Negative Comments

  17 May 2008

China Digital Times has a post on how the Chinese police are using their own forum participants and blog comment makers  to deal with online negative comments. (via Imagethief)

Russia: Church vs Blogger Priests

Window on Eurasia writes that the Moscow Patriarchate is planning “to discipline Russian Orthodox priests who use the Internet to advance views at variance with those of the hierarchy or to challenge the church’s leadership in other ways.”