Global Voices · Citizen media stories from 2009 September 08

8 September 2009

Daily archive · 7 posts

Stories from 8 September 2009

Global Voices Bloggers Mentor New Danish and African Bloggers

Written by Solana Larsen · Western Europe

Emails have begun to fly this week between 31 Global Voices mentors and 31 participants in a newly launched educational program in Copenhagen, Denmark called Global Change.

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Egypt: Two Coptic Orthodox Church Channels

Written by Marwa Rakha · Middle East & North Africa

After a series of failed attempts to launch a television channel for the Coptic faith in Egypt over the past 15 years, two channels were authorized and four more are in the pipeline.

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Egypt: US “Activist” Travis Randall Deported

Written by Marwa Rakha · Middle East & North Africa, North America

American journalist Travis Randall has been denied entry to Egypt and then deported. Bloggers react to his treatment in this round up of posts by Marwa Rakha.

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Afghanistan: Animal House in Kabul

Written by Joshua Foust · Central Asia & Caucasus

Tim Lynch, an American security contractor in Afghanistan, used to work with the now-fired security guards at the U.S. Embassy in Kabul. He says: “The problem with the current guard...

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Venezuela: Another Miss Universe Crown

Written by Laura Vidal · Latin America

Miss Venezuela was selected as winner of the 2009 Miss Universe beauty pageant. Even though many Venezuelans are proud of the accomplishment, some bloggers question what this says about their own society.

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Kazakhstan: Lenin. More Alive Than the Living

Written by Adil Nurmakov · Central Asia & Caucasus

Two similar messages have entered the Kazakh blogosphere from opposite ends of the country. They both talk about the revival of one symbol of a bygone era: head-and-shoulders statues of Lenin.

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Colombia: Medellín Celebrates its Festival of Flowers

Written by Catalina Restrepo · Latin America

Every year, the city of Medellín, Colombia, celebrates the Festival of Flowers. This celebration's defining symbol are the "silletas," which are flower displays that are carried throughout the city by the flower carriers.

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Updates from 8 September 2009

Pakistan

“I can’t aggregate words to describe what this image says. It is a Martyr Certificate” exclaims Pak Factor after posting an image of the martyr certificate awarded by Tehrik-i-Taliban to a person from South Waziristan, who died during an insurgency.

• Rezwan

Pakistan

Naeem Sadiq at All Things Paksitan brings up the issue of an increasing irregularity in Karachi, Pakistan where many cars are carrying illegal number plates and the authority is doing nothing to stop this practice.

• Rezwan

Afghanistan

Captain's Cat, an aid worker in Gardez City, posts a conversation with a young American soldier, where he expresses exasperation at the way Afghan culture works, and admits he only joined the Army to pay for college.

• Joshua Foust

Bahamas

Bahamian bloggers Womanish Words and tings mash dedicate their posts to the marking of UNESCO’s International Literacy Day.

• Janine Mendes-Franco

Trinidad & Tobago

“It really didn't say much and didn't seem attached to a reality where citizens of the country exist”: KnowProSE.com posts some general impressions of Trinidad and Tobago's 2009-2010 Budget, while kid5rivers says of the TT$7.7 billion shortfall: “Such shortfalls…are really debts to be repaid by future generations…”

• Janine Mendes-Franco

Barbados

As the preliminary hearing into the murder of tourist Terry Schwarzfeld begins (to no local press coverage), Barbados Free Press says it is a “poor show all around by our police, government and tourism authorities.”

• Janine Mendes-Franco

Bermuda

As a Bermudian man fights for his life after being shot at a gambling event, Catch a fire, who is “particularly concerned about the prevalance of organised gambling”, also acknowledges the bigger issue: “We currently live in an increasingly atomistic society, a collection of households rather than a neighbourhood, workers instead of co-workers. We increasingly surrender to the bystander effect and an idea that ‘its not my problem’.”

• Janine Mendes-Franco