Stories from 8 June 2010
Italy: “Every Kiss is a Revolution” as Gays Await Legal Rights
Violent assaults on homosexuals have occurred with frequency in Italy over the past year, but to the disappointment of many lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) activists, it has not increased the chances for new anti-homophobia legislation being passed.
East Timor: Citizen Media Meagerness
Giantpanda dives into Timorese culture of togetherness and reflects about the country's meagerness along the blogosphere questioning if in East Timor “for many, a personal blog would be like setting up a tent on the mountain far from the village.”
Kurdistance: The Hypocrisy of Defending Turkey
As there is an increase of support for both Turkey and Palestine in the wake of the Israeli raid on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla, Kurdish bloggers caution against supporting a country whose human rights record leaves much to be desired.
50 Years Later, Independence and the Resource Curse in Francophone Africa
Francophone Africa is celebrating 50 years of independence in 2010. Many Africans voices are wondering out loud what is there to celebrate, given the mediocre level of human development achieved since independence.
Guatemala: Bloggers Draw Attention to Green Initiatives
The bloggers at Antigua Daily Photo have started, “a mini-series to show you some of the ‘green’ initiatives available just around Antigua Guatemala.” They began by highlighting e-waste de Guatemala [es], an NGO that collects and gets rid of electronic waste.
Mexico: Having Fun With Census Questions
This year Mexico will hold a Census, and the blogger from Maldito Thinner [es] has compiled a list of the best 100 burlesque questions published under the hashtag #preguntasdelcenso (census questions). For example: “17.- ¿Cuál es su ingreso aproximado en las granjas de Farmville? ¿Cuántos cochinitos tiene? (17.-What is your approximate income in...
Japan: Surrealistic paintings by Tetsuya Ishida
PaintPink Tentacle blogs a selection of Tetsuya Ishida's (1973-2005) surrealistic paintings on the dark side of modern life.
Haiti: Farmers’ Rights
The Haitian Blogger republishes a Facebook report that supports Haitian farmers “in their epic fight against the Monsanto multinational corporation.”
Costa Rica: Laura Chinchilla's First 30 Days in Office
The first female president of Costa Rica, Laura Chinchilla, has been in office for 30 days; the blog Carepicha [es] analyses this first month. Among a political evaluation, the blogger congratulates Chichilla for using Open Source on her website, but calls her out for not having a Twitter account.
Jamaica, St. Maarten: R.I.P. “Yaya”
Geoffrey Philp's Blogspot acknowledges the passing of the St. Martin folklorist Laurelle “Yaya” Richards.
South Korea: Netizens Question Cause of Cheonan Tragedy
Ronda Hauben from Ohmynews blogs about south Korean netizen's doubt about the cause of Cheonan Tragedy and government's move to invite bloggers and twitterers “to dispel any doubts among the young that North Korea was behind the deadly attack”.
Guyana: Twittering
Signifyin’ Guyana suggests that “its promise of a succinct, timely message relayed between friends, (and enemies), networkers, netidlers, and all other kinds of purposeful or purposempty folk, is probably why Twitter is so seductive to many.”
Haiti: What Would Jean-Juste Say?
“If father Jean-Juste were alive, what he would say to the earthquake survivors? What he would say to the international and Haitian government bureaucracies?”: Wadner Pierre remembers the late Father Gerard Jean-Juste, whom he describes as “an adoptive father” to him.
Bahamas: Cleaning Up the Spill
“There is oil in the water, disaster in the air”: Womanish Words wants to know what we're going to do about the oil spill in the Gulf.
Peru: The Blogosphere Remembers Bagua
A year from the tragic incidents in Bagua, where officially 34 people died (23 of them were policemen) and unofficial reports speak of a much larger number of casualties, Peruvians used blogs to express their different feelings: pain, frustration, and disenchantment were the predominant sentiments.
Pakistan: Bloggers Reject Religious Hatred
93 innocent lives were lost when the Ahmadiyya religious community was attacked in Lahore around a week ago. Pakistani bloggers, netizens and activists have denounced the attacks in strong words.
Israel: Pixies Pull Show Stopper
In the wake of mounting international criticism and condemnation of Israel’s clash with activists intent on breaking the blockade on Gaza, the Pixies, a veteran rock band, have canceled their concert in Israel. Nicole Hyman follows the debate on the link between music and politics on Twitter.
Japan: An interview with the author of “20th Century Boys”
Ayumi at Kiss-sui edited and translated into English an interview with Naoki Urasawa [en], the author of the mangas “20th Century Boys” [en] and “Monster” [en]. (The interview first appeared in August 2009 edition of the magazine AERA.)
Sri Lanka: Mass graves are nothing new
MCM Iqbal at Groundviews tells us why he feels that unearthing of mass graves in Sri Lanka fails to surprise any longer, and that more such discoveries cannot be ruled out.
Bangladesh: In search of a soulmate
“Do you believe in soul mate?” asks Sadiq Alam in an introspective post on his blog Inspirations and Creative Thoughts.
Indian Diaspora: Going traditional in Raleigh
In Raleigh, blogger Maddy and his family, on becoming new home owners, decide to do a Ganapathy homam (a Hindu religious ceremony or puja, performed before starting any new venture) as is traditional in South India. Maddy shares with us his interesting experience of doing a traditional puja in North...
