Stories from 4 June 2010
Haiti: “No” to Monsanto
“Today, tens of thousands of Haitian farmers and earthquake-displaced peasants will gather on the occasion of International Environment Day to preserve the agricultural lifeblood of the nation”: Repeating Islands blogs about protests against Monsanto and their genetically modified seeds.
Trinidad & Tobago: Broken Promise
Trinidad and Tobago's new Prime Minister has reneged on her promise to not move into her predecessor's residence, prompting B.C. Pires to comment: “What the palace stands for is clear…and anyone who deliberately chooses to occupy the palace necessarily assumes all its trappings. You can't play sailor mas and ‘fraid...
Jamaica: Extortion
Jamaica Salt blogs about the alleged “extortion rackets going on in downtown Kingston, linked to the power held by Dudus.”
Trinidad & Tobago: About those Laptops…
The recently elected government of Trinidad and Tobago has promised free laptops for children about to enter secondary school; KnowTnT.com has a better idea: “Schools. Infrastructure that supports broadband internet access – not just in urbanized areas but throughout the nation. Subsidize it.”
Jamaica, Trinidad & Tobago: Gulf Spill
Labrish Jamaica wonders whether the recent oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico will affect the Caribbean, while the incident has made Trinidad and Tobago's This Beach Called Life “think about our very own offshore drilling efforts”.
Iran: A blog for Derakhshan
Hossein Derakhshan‘s family has launched a blog for this jailed blogger. Family says that Hossein is leading prayer meetings. They also say Hussein wanted to serve his country.
Iran:”Hizbollah” interrupted Khomeini Grandson's speech
Culturallogic says [fa] religious hard-liners chanted slogans against the grandson of the late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini at a state ceremony marking the 21st anniversary of the Iranian spiritual leader's death in protest at his support for Iran's reformist opposition. The blogger adds several protesters had Lebanese Hizbollah's yellow flags. Here...
Iran: Majid Tavakoli stopped his hunger strike
Majid Tavakoli, an Iranian student activist, stopped his hunger strike when he was transferred from confinement cell to public prison. You can see in Nasabonline blog Tavakoli's mother when she gets the news. Koohyar Godarzi, a jailed blogger stopped his hunger strike too.
Brazil: Landlocked Crowds set up a Beach in a Mountain Town
When at the end of last year, Belo Horizonte’s City Hall published a decree banning events of any nature from taking place at one of the most popular squares in the city, it was certainly not expecting to bring “beach life” to a Brazilian inland mountain town.
Guatemala: Video Shows Aftermath of Storm Agatha
A video (in English) posted on HablaGuate shows the aftermath of storm Agatha in Ciudad Vieja, a “coffee-growing community located on the base of the ‘volcán de agua’ (water volcano) just outside of Antigua, Guatemala.” The post also provides a link where donations for relief efforts can be sent.
Russia: State regulation of metals market
Streetwise Professor reflects upon the ongoing discussion in Russia about regulating the metals’ market by price fixing, and Prime Minister Putin's active involvement in this matter.
Czech Republic: Gender and youth in politics
Dr. Sean's Diary scrutinizes the gender and youth balance among parties and deputies in the newly elected Czech parliament.
Belarus: Europe via Minsk and Caracas
Volha Charnysh of Belarus Digest describes how Belarus now imports Venezuelan crude oil, refines it, and re-exports it to Europe, all in a complex scheme to lessen Minsk's dependence on Moscow for energy deliveries.
Russia: Death of Voznesensky
Vadim Nikitin of Foreign Policy Association's Russia blog posts a eulogy to Russian-Soviet poet and dissident Andrei Voznesensky, who died on June 1.
Russia-USA: First Stalin memorial on American soil
LJ user gordyian draws attention to [RUS] the inauguration of the first ever US monument to Stalin, forming part of a Bedford, Virginia, World War II memorial park.
Russia: Are Websites Responsible for User Comments?
The latest edition of the Supreme Court's decision says online news media will be responsible for user comments left on their websites, gazeta.ru reports [RUS]. A previous version implied no accountability for user comments, but it is now being revised due to pressure from RosKomNadzor, a government media and internet regulation...
Russia: Relations Between Bloggers and Car Manufacturers
Autonews.ru compares [RUS] different attitudes towards bloggers among foreign car manufacturers and AutoVaz (the largest car manufacturer in the country). If western companies tend to cooperate with bloggers, AutoVaz considers blogosphere as a space for unethical competition.
Russia: Mapping Top Bloggers and Regional Communities
Alexey Sidorenko shares his analysis of the data on Russia's top bloggers and regional communities.
Lebanon: Blogosphere buzzing after Israeli attack on Gaza flotilla
Israel's attack on a Gaza aid convoy that killed at least 10 peace activists has sparked an international outcry, no less in Lebanon. The Lebanese blogosphere reacted sharply to news that its southern neighbour had violently stormed the Turkish aid convoy, the Mavi Marmara.
Syria: Lash Out Continues Against Israel's Raid on Gaza Aid Convoy
The deadly Israeli raid on the aid convoy headed to Gaza to break the blockade has once again brought the suffering of Palestinians in Gaza into the limelight. The political and public outcry has been remarkable and has generated a heated global debate on what had happened. Syrian and Palestinian bloggers speak up.
USA: Mourning the Loss of American Furkan Dogan, Killed on Flotilla
Following the Israeli Defense Forces' deadly attack on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla, the identities of the nine activists killed aboard the Turkish ship Mavi Marmara have emerged. Eight were Turkish nationals, the other was a 19-year-old Turkish-American dual citizen named Furkan Dogan. In this post, Jillian C. York investigates American perspectives on the teenager's death.
