So, given the assignment of picking any European country to blog about, my default choices will always be Spain. I hold this idealized, romanticized notion of the country from my 10-day visit their in high school and studies throughout college. I've said it so many times before, but I learned more in that short trip so many years ago than I have from a lot of pointless lectures and homework from other classes. (Side note, one of my big regrets in life may always be turning down the opportunity to study abroad in Madrid for logistically college course requirements. D'oh! I though-- Spain isn't going anywhere, right? True, it hasn't moved, but I have yet to return. But, my time will come!)
Kosovo's independence became a hot topic in the Spanish Global Voices community because of it's resemblance to the situation with the Spanish region of Catalonia. It is an autonomous community within the country; while part of Spain it is a very distinct area with its own culture and dialect, with Barcelona (pronounced bar-SAY-lona, per Catalan) as its hub. As a high schooler visiting beautiful Barcelona, I know from experience that Catalonians do not like Americans trying to speak broken elementary
Though some Catalan Bloggers had ambivalent feelings about their connection to Kosovo and the region's future independent status.
From Diari del votant anònim:
"It is not comparable with Catalonia or the Basque Country. However, I
think that any process towards sovereignty in Europe should take it
into consideration. That's the reason why we are so repeatedly told
that the two cases are different.[…] Kosovo might not be our mirror, but every time that a new state
says freely what and how it wants to be, the world becomes freer."
El bloc d'en Narcis Satre provides a nice insider's look to Catalonia, if you find the translation button...I had previously
AIDS…with its prominence in American media and culture—from Tom Hank’s Oscar-winning performance in Philadelphia to Bono’s advocacy efforts, from the Broadway smash Rent to Angels in America—I was astounded at the lack of personal and institutional/organizational blogs dedicated to the disease on the global scale. Finding a post here or there on a newspaper or publication’s blog doesn’t prove that difficult a task, but finding sites that look at AIDS’ ripple effect…its devastation—medically, emotionally, financially—is no cakewalk.
There are a couple of ways to think about this. I guess originally I thought that because AIDS reaches epidemic numbers in South Africa and India, the Internet and blog coverage would be much more than you find here. But, then I have to put this in perspective. The United States remains a wealthy, privileged country. Many of the people dedicated to the cause here have the resources to write blog about their experiences. In Africa and Asia, from what I can tell reading The After-Death Room, the circumstances are completely different, with much less access to education and medical care…needless to say, blogging doesn’t factor in as a priority for many.
Themi's AIDS Diary profiles the life and activism of a young South African woman living with the disease. Her story has been on aired on NPR, CNN, and MTV, but her straight forwardness and earnesty resonate and leave an definite impact. She now travels around the world learning and teaching, hearing others' stories and telling hers. She wrote last October:
India, is a very complicated country. They have the highest rate of HIV in Asia, a lot of kids are living in the street, there is lack of employment and it has been hit hard by gender problems. So, I didn't think that women would be active in the way they are--especially because of the gender problems.
But when I got there, there were girls that had run away from their homes--their villages-to come to town to work on HIV/AIDS. They are HIV/AIDS activists. Some of them are positive and are teaching people to speak out about AIDS. The part that amazed me the most was that I have never heard of a project that is teaching people to speak out about AIDS.
I have never heard of it!
And it was a wonderful thing to see that these women go door to door and encourage people to speak out. Those young women really inspired me. Their passion for life, even if they are infected with HIV.
The most important thing that I learned is that I pitied myself that I lived in a poor community, but I see that even if I lived inaa shack, I still had a bed to sleep on and food to eat. In India, life for infected people is much harder. You will see an entire family--mother, father children, living on the street. When a person is down like that, it is very difficult to bring them up.
When I think that my story was acknowledged and helped people in those situations...Well, it is something that I can't even explain. Some people even made different choices after hearing my story. Some of the women have had abortions more than two times because of their status, but once I went there they actually gave it a chance to have a baby that would be negative.
Another important thing I learned from the people in these communities, especially the women, is to never let a situation put you down. It made me realize that you don't need money to do certain things. If you have your hands, you have your mouth, you have your brain, then you can just speak.
Writers of a variety of backgrounds contribute to the Black Looks blog, a site that addresses problems affecting African women. Creator Sokari Ekine wanted to write about "a range of issues that I have experienced directly or indirectly in my offline life such as gender violence, racism, sexuality, HIV/AIDS and cancer."
Ekine views "the world as moving further and further to the right with American hegemony contaminating the global space" and she wanted "to write from a radical and progressive standpoint challenging not only the right but also the liberal community, the so capitalism with a friendly face which is an oxymoron to say the least."
The posts articulately comment on the AIDS crisis from different viewpoints, illuminating discrepancies in media coverage, misinformation and cultural barriers. Ekine blogs:
I was attracted enough by the title of an AllAfrica.com article to resolve to read it. The title read: “Uganda: Africans Can Overcome HIV/Aids.” I wanted to know how we could do so. If Uganda can do it, then Lesotho can, also, I reasoned. Lesotho has one of the highest rates in the world. I went home this year after 7 years away, and found many of my friends gone, compromised to AIDS and the folly surrounding it.
But I was quickly disappointed by the article, even if it spoke some truths that I would agree with. Shunning promiscuity is one of those. But the author also says things like, “since the condom is about safe sex and safe sinning,” it cannot be Jesus’ approach. Now, I don’t know if it would be Jesus’ approach — my worry lies in the fact that the author thinks condoms are for sinning.
Condoms are for safe sex that should be had by any couple if one of the partners is infected. We must remember that infection does not equal sinning, and that infected people should not be stigmatised like it has been done before. There are many ways to catch a virus. And even if someone catches the HIV virus by fornicating, sinning, cheating their spouse, our job is to help them, not to hurl Biblical verses at them, not to cast the first stone. That’s what Jesus said to the mob that wanted to stone that woman accused of whoring, right? Who are we to pass judgement?
This is just a more gerneral AIDS blog, mainted by an American ( I think) but he/she inlcudes a lot of interesting news, thoughts and stories.
I found this post on the Warshooter blog about AIDS in Asia....the post's powerful images speak for themselves and will haunt you, so make sure you're emotionally ready (if anyone ever can be) before you look at this.
While I profess to love/be fascinated by Indian culture, I will not pretend that I know very much about its current political conflicts, nor its historical turmoil with Pakistan. A dear old friend with Indian roots first introduced me to some aspects/perspectives of Indian life, and the lecture a few weeks ago from the Columbia anthropology professor provided an informative lesson. So, surfing and skimming the waves of personal blogs from the countries further peaked my curiosity and interest while revealing completely new angles on living in that part of the world.
In Hypocrisy of the India's Left Parties, the blogger "Panchajanya" examines and criticizes the Community party of India (CPM) through his own analysis and attacks as well as references to other media outlets and article. Panchajanya, apparently a business management professional in Keralam, India reminds readers that "Information is Key to Victory. Be Aware and Beware."
Panchajanya most recently wrote about how the government quelled anti-China protests, but allowed rallies supported by CPM members to continue:
"Olympic torch relay may be happening in New Delhi but CPM led West Bengal Government has banned all Anti China Protests in West Bengal!
Two weeks after it allowed Tibetan activists to hold a candlelight vigil, the CPM-led West Bengal Government has denied them permission to hold a three-day anti-China public rally scheduled to begin today forcing them to go indoors.
Ironically, there were as many as 11 rallies in the city during the day. These included a rally by the Trinamool in Park Circus to protest against the state government’s failure to check prices and a similar one by CPM supporters in Tollygunge to protest against inflation.
Chinese Consul General in Kolkata Mao Siwei was quick to give much deserved praise to CPM
“This is a correct decision because the Government of India made a commitment to the Government of China that no anti-China rallies will be allowed to take place anywhere in the country,”
Remember this is the same CPM which had said
right to strike is a fundamental rights of not only government employees but of the entire working class
I guess the for CPM Loyalty towards their masters in China is more important that "some fundamental Right" of people."
"MK," a medical doctor in Jhang, Pakistan maintains Crow's Nest, where he deconstructs all forms of Pakistani life, from politics to technology (for example, he just complained about wireless plan rip-offs). Some days he rants about cricket, other days about hospital residencies/business and sometimes he waxes philosophic.
"Today is yet another March 23, 2008 in the history of our nation. The ordinary man is busy in making his ends meet while the rest are busy either making or analyzing the future of our country. Like always before the future of our nation is uncertain and there is a lot of debate on what is to come for us. But in the real deal of the things does this matter at all? I don't think so. All that matters is the continuity of the food chain for the common man. If it stays steady then the common man will never come on streets for any elitist ideologies."
This just goes to show that though our countries may have different rituals, political circumstances, religions--people still express themselves and question life and realities in much the same manner; our humanity connects us all.
Now, a blog that mixes amusement,education and enlightenment, over at Pakistan--The Land of Pure. M. Junaid Khan, "proud Pakistani" presents funny and compelling news and views from hi country, as well as some gripping images. In a post from last month, Khan looks at the Kashmir situation, revealing his/her feelings on India:
A Human Rights NGO working in Kashmir for the past year has finally presented its report claiming to have found at least thousand graves containing unnamed people. These graves are mostly scattered around the town of Uri, which is a border town on Line of Control. The human rights group strongly suspect them to be the graves of the thousands of people who went missing and are later on killed in stages gun battles or through torture by Indian security agencies. They also contain graves of the girls who are raped by the Indian Border Security Force and later killed and dumped in these graves to hide the proof.
Man…where to start on the coverage of China recently. Between the Tibetan uprisings and controversy surrounding
the upcoming Beijing Olympics, the Asian juggernaut continually dominates world headlines. Claims have been made from various camps regarding the Western media’s unfair portrait of China and its government, so what better place to research reactions than blogs—where citizens can put their (hopefully unfiltered) opinions out there for anyone, like graduate students sitting in coffeehouses on their laptops on the other side of the world. And from what I found in just some of the blogs written in English, the feelings span the spectrum of complete nationalism to unhinged outrage and anger.
In China, Eat My Lamb Kebab!, the anonymous blogger expresses his total disgust with his country. His latest entry, “China’s Rape of Tibet and What It Means to the World,” was written after he received multiple requests to say more on the topic.
Whoever this guy is, he writes with a frank, enviable passion, though at times rather crude. He clearly understands the situation and wants world leaders to look responsibly at the situation (AH hem, United States…) and not be blinded by financial, corporate interests regarding a Beijing boycott.
“And it all comes to a head in Tibet. The bitches that run the IOC won't even mention boycotting the Olympics, though boycotting the USSR in 1980 was perfectly OK after Afganistan (only Coke and McDs were in the USSR at the time). The USOC is advising/threatening US athletes not to do anything that might "upset" their gracious Chinese hosts, not even if US athletes get sudden intestinal problems right before their competition against Chinese opponents. …So when we look at China, we see a big, evil, ugly, smelly disgusting mess, mostly of its own creation. But we also see the worst in our own failed human rights institutions, our gutless, shit eating political leaders and our corporate traitors.”
He also has some choice words for his country’s defenders:
“But what is saddest is that the population of Chinese, especially those living overseas, are so blindly proud of their polluted, social junkyard of a country that they venomously defend anything and everything that China does. Those living outside of China get to enjoy the fruits of the West's continual evolution and do everything they can to avoid going back to their so-called "motherland" and yet brazenly tout filthy China as "just as good" as the West and the "future leader" of the world.
If this is how China plans to lead the world, the human race is headed for extinction.”
Wow.
On a different realm of the blogosphere, we have a somewhat unbiased blog dedicated to news about the Beijing Olympics (with the bland title “Beijing Olympics Blog”) created to “act as a resource for anyone looking for information and discussion on the Beijing Olympics” and to “promote understanding and discussion between East and West, Zhongguo ren and Laowai.” One interesting fact to keep in mind, however, is that the blog runs from the UK; it would be interesting to know if the posters are British or Chinese. I am leaning towards Chinese since they don’t reveal their identities (just a non-descript “Bob”); it seems most Chinese bloggers work in anonymity if what they publish might irk the government. But this is just completely a guess…I don’t know. This “Bob” fellow comes off as a guy just really excited about the Olympics being held in Beijing and peeved that Human Rights protestors might interfere with its success.
The latest entry revolves around the who, what and when of the London Torch Relay, including details about all the torchbearers. He adds this about the protesters:
“As mentioned above protesters are planning to use this event to continue the raise publicity for their causes. Reporters Without Borders have said that they may try and repeat their stunt in Athens last month. However the Free Tibet Campaign insists that they do not wish to disrupt the relay, and will only stage fittingly peaceful protests. They are holding the Tibetan Freedom Torch Rally between 14.30 - 15.30 in Argyle Square which is an alternative event for those who do not wish to attend the Olympic torch relay.”
So, while not necessarily a thrilling, provocative blog, it does give you a good idea of how the Olympics are unrolling as summer approaches. Plus, I find it interesting to read between the lines of some of these blogs that try to put up a seemingly objective front.
Now over to the Peking Duck
and his “peculiar hybrid of personal journal, dilettantish punditry,
pseudo-philosophy and much more, from an Accidental Expat who has made his way
from Hong Kong to Beijing to Taipei and finally back to Beijing for reasons
that are still not entirely clear to him…”
I like this guy (“Richard”) due to his blend of national and world news, in additional to personal asides or interests. For example, his last post talks about a fantastic tourist’s guidebook someone gave him. That may or may not be of importance to any natives, but the Duck mixes it up; the other posts primarily touch on with the latest news involving Tibet and activist Hu Jia’s prison sentencing. This blog serves as an intriguing perspective because you have an American (well, this is an assumption, but an obvious one, he has a “Don’t Blame Me I Voted for Kerry” tag at the bottom of the page) who has been immersed in Chinese culture for some time commenting on the events around him. He does not have the ideologies or assumptions or whatever ties to the country that come off as liabilities to those making comments about the current situation. For example, people who side with the government are blind loyalists and those who criticize the government, insisting in a free Tibet, are traitors. But the, again, people can say this guy doesn’t know what he’s talking about because he is not a native. In these sad, confusing circumstances, no one comes out a winner.
He provides engaging commentary, forcing viable questions, particularly of the media. For instance, he challenges the article titled "Happy life of a Tibetan."
“That is the actual title of this Xinhua article, which borders on parody. I can just see some party hack with a checklist of key messages ticking them off one by one. Only one item is missing from his checklist, however, and that is newsworthiness. Since when does someone being happy qualify as news? Then again, the article's subject probably exists only in the imagination of a low-payed copywriter. “
He explains himself a little on a separate page:
“I went to China with stars in my eyes, dazzled by the positive coverage China was receiving in 2001 for its economic miracle, its selection for the Olympics, its apparent trend to greater openness and a host of other factors that convinced me "China is the place to be." In some ways, I still believe it's the place to be - but my belief that it was becoming freer and its government reforming was quickly shattered. None of my disdain for the CCP is a product of Cold War mentality, only of recent personal experience. That BCPC has the nerve to make such blanket assumptions and generalizations is galling, but not at all surprising.”
So, China sits in a complex conundrum. While it attempts to pull off the celebration of world unity, its internal conflicts and questionable human rights actions threaten to irrevocably wreck its image.
Exploring Middle Eastern blogs proves to be a fascinating crash course in the area's cultural, history as well as current events. With so many people, or Americans I guess I should say, are confused by nature of the conflicts, the actual geographic make-up and basic traditions/customs, diving head into the community through personal blogs serves as an invaluable tool; you can get the information not always discernable between the lines of news articles.
Given the rampant misconceptions of how Mid-Easterners live, it's amazing that there is so much on the Internet that reveals a much more diverse population.
I stumbled across Chan’ad Bahraini, which opened up a number of questions and ideas. First, I admit, I know nothing about the country Bahrain; I think I had forgotten it was part of the Middle East (I quickly discovered that Bahrain has approx. 650,000 residents, about 35 percent of which are foreign-born.) But, the site is a journal of sorts for a man who was born in Asia, but has lived in Bahrain most of his life, except for college in the Unites States. (Chad’ad refers to a fish found in the Arabian Gulf; the blogger had decided on anonymity and refers to himself as this fish.)
He writes about the injustice he sees in the Bahrainian government; most recently, activists have been targeted and jailed for speaking out (perhaps some of the reasons behind the blogger’s anonymity). He says:
I should have done this a long time ago. As Nido points
out, Abdullah Mohsin, an activist and a blogger, is one of several
people who have been locked up by the government since December on
charges of “stealing weapons”. There have been serious allegations
of torture of the detainees. Abdullah has been suffering from kidney
problems, having to be admitted to
hospital briefly.
As Nido points out, Abdullah would not hurt a fly, and the charges against him are clearly cooked up. I got to know him at the countless protests and demonstrations he attended, always in his dark suit and white shirt (no tie), quiet, very polite, and an extremely nice guy.
In Kuwait, a self-proclaimed Internet junkie (they aren’t just American creatures!) maintains the blog Forza Kuwait. He keeps up on all aspects of Kuwaiti life, from pop-culture to technological gadgets to national (“Kuwait,” he writes, “my great country [at least in my eye] has its ups and downs, but it is still my country.”) and international news.
Showing a little of the competition between the Middle
Eastern countries, he most recently asked in a post if the United Arab Emirates
are jealous of Kuwait because luxury car negotiations/sales.
His observations, while vague and somewhat unshaped, do offer a citizen’s perspective into daily, political life:
The government raise the white flag !
March 17, 2008
if the news that are flying by are right , that the government have resign then the government have raised the white flag
It has thrown the Towel
We can declare the clinical death of ” respect to the law ” which was in a coma for the past years
They may dissolve the parliament which would suck , because that mean voting will be on June ( when the parliament is dissolved , the election is set up to be 2 month after day of dissolving ) and June is hot as hell and I’m planning to travel in June
One of the most compelling sites I found was Days of My Life, an Iraqi teenage girl’s online diary. Calling herself Sunshine, she exposes the very harsh, frightening realities of Iraq. Reading her words, I can’t imagine waking up everyday with safety not guaranteed; it make you realize how much you take for granted. The latest entry is a letter a friend of hers wrote remembering a brother who was recently killed by a car bomb.
Sunshine, only in high school, wrote just this just a few weeks ago:
It has been the hardest two week in my life.
First we were threatened by terrorists who wanted to kill my dad, I spent the
whole nights thinking, and crying, I was in shock, and terrified.
I couldn’t study anything, I couldn’t concentrate and I did horrible in all of
my exams, I am expecting low marks, during the classed I kept wondering with
tears in my eyes, what will happen next? Will they Kill my dad? Kidnap one of
my family members? Why ? we’re not rich, don’t belong to any political party,
very simple family, and never harmed anyone, what do those terrorists want?
Money? Or they just want to terrify us?..
On Friday morning, my mom told me that dad was asking her to take care of the
kids, and his parents, I went to my room, opened my book to study but I burst
into tears, and cried for long time until I was unable to open my eyes, and my
book page was completely wet. I throw the book away, and kept blaming myself
and cry for not doing my best to fix my relationship with dad, I was telling
myself, what have I done? If something bad happens to dad, I won’t forgive
myself ever, part of me was ordering me to go to my dad, apologize and make
sure he forgives me for every time I was adversarial to him, for every word I
said and made him upset, for every night I slept without wishing him a good
night, but I couldn’t, I was tight, I don’t know why..
I suffered from horrible headache and insomnia, I want my dad to see me
publishing my first book, graduating from the best collage, being successful
person in my life, and more important I want to be so nice to him and make him
forget everything, every disparity we had, & every time we argued, I hope
he’ll forget those memories.. and be proud of the girl he raised, although he
tells me he’s proud but I want to make him even more prouder..
Dad wasn’t prefect with me, he’s out of temper and not optimistic, we have very
different personalities that’s why we argue a lot.. but I know he loves me more
than anyone else, and want the best for me, he’d do anything to make sure I
have the best life ever, it is just that we look at the same thing and see it
in different way, we have different perspectives . we love each other , but for
some reasons, our relationship became bad
I want my dad to remain safe, and I’ll accept him in the way he’s.. and I
wouldn’t replace him with any father in the whole planet ..
My dad doesn’t know how did I feel in the last 2 weeks, how did I spend my time,
or how sorry I was, he doesn’t know how terrified I felt from the idea or
losing him, I was really worried, and I realized how much I love him, but I
don’t have the courage to tell him..
I’ll give 200% of my energy to fix our relationship, I know my friend R would
do anything to bring her father back to life, or even spend one more day with
her daddy, remember the good days together, and apologies for every time she
acted selfishly or bothered her father, she was devastated when she lost him ,
she wore black clothes for a whole year, locked herself in her room, and I was
really worried that she may loose her mind or become more depressed . until now
her eyes fill with tears each time she remember him, I feel her pain, and know
how much does she miss her dad.
After reading that, how do you get back into your day? Your troubles, worries seem petty and trite.
But Sunshine’s blog serves as an example of the power of this medium. How else could journalism students in Chicago instantly feel the pain that so many experience on the other side of the world, and with such vividness? News article about the Iraq situation give you the nuts and bolts…and while the images and tales sadden or frighten us, we become immune. Here, we feel her pain; she is not some stranger’s story in a strange land, but a girl who loves her father and worries for his life—most of us can put ourselves in her situation and become overcome with her same emotions.
