Archive for
December 26th, 2006
Stories
Lebanon: Foreign Intervention and Economics
The Lebanese bloggers are united this week in wishing their readers all the best during Christmas, Al Adha and the New Year.
Some of these bloggers have taken up the issue of foreign intervention in the region as a subject of reflection while others highlight the sad state of economy and the effects that the political situation is having on it.
A reader left a comment praising the positive aspects of colonialism and/or occupation to which Ibn Bint Jbeil responded:
i have a plan for you. i would like to help you advance in your life. i am a very rich man and also own much property, and have immense and enviable political clout. my plan for you will commence soon, with or without your consent, once i locate where you are.
my plan is simple: i will break down your door, move in, turn your living room into my own private barracks, complete with mounted gun near the front entrance. my first step towards improving your life will be to force you at gunpoint to fix the door that i broke down.
Mehlis, who was the investigator in the Hariri murder case before Brammertz, was part of a witty post by EDB in which she ends with thorny questions about the on going investigations:
The problem with March 14th is that they are evidently as foolish as the White House, hiring disreputable Ahmed Chalabi-types to make their case. Mehlis has no credibility. None whatsoever. And why not get someone honest and well-respected to do the job?…
The funny thing is that March 14th's media will hype any of the UN investigation's conclusions. If Brammertz reports that Bashar al-Assad was taking a crap when Hariri was killed, well then that's evidence of foul play. If Brammertz suggests that an aerial attack might have caused the former Prime Minister's demise, well then what?
Bolivia: Politics Falls Apart, Christmas Comes Together
This week's Bolivian blog summary was written by a guest collaborator, Miguel Buitrago, a Bolivian currently pursuing his Ph.D in political science in Hamburg, Germany. His Bolivian blog is called MABB.
As the year winds down, and Bolivians prepare to celebrate what is considered one of the most important holydays of the year, the Bolivian blogsphere continues voicing its thoughts, opinions, fears, complaints and cheers. But before I tell you about them, I'd like to thank Eduardo Ávila for kindly inviting me to take this week's pulse to the Bolivian blogsphere. I would also like to take this opportunity to wish every one a very merry Christmas 2006.
Naturally, the socio-political crisis is very present in the minds of many Bolivians. The blogsphere is no exception to this. A careful look at what is being said reflects the polarization of Bolivian society. On the one hand, and as a result of last week's violent confrontations during the council meeting in Santa Cruz. In other cities, there were reports about the abuses against the eastern indigenous population and damage to their organizations. On the other hand, the council meetings themselves were the subject of various posts. Noelia Soruco, from Noelia Pensando en Voz Alta, thought the gathering was just overwhelming; Javier Sandoval, at Javier Libro Abierto, sarcastically qualified it as a great oligarch party; and finally, Undiary illustrated, with many photos, how it went.
Links for Tue, 2006-12
The complexities are politics in Nepal are mind boggling. Nepali Netbook unravels some, explaining the context of a persuasive constitutional monarchist named Rabindra Nath Sharma.
Light Within on the multiplicity of the self's identities. “There it occurred to m that I have three different lives; different identities; Rural, Urban and Cyber.”
groundviews takes a closer look at the politics of identity and peace in Sri Lanka. “What may be a pre-condition to induce a true Sri Lankan nationalism is perhaps a ‘national grievance’; almost all nationalist movements was based on such a common grievance; the Indians found it in British colonialism, the Tamils in Sinhalese majoritarianism, and the Nepalese in undemocratic monarchism.”
Two years after the Indian Ocean Tsunami, there isn't too much noise in the respective blogospheres. LaneTop remembers the day, and wishes more had been done by the author. Another reaction here.
Sean Roberts reports on wild cards in Turkmenistan's succession struggle.
Arthur reports on government pressure against teachers, specifically putting pressure on teachers to buy government newspapers, in Kazakhstan.
Notes From Hareinik has some bad news on deforestation prevention in Armenia and encourages readers to take action.
KZblog reports on shakeups in Kazakhstan's political parties that most notably includes merges of parties into the presidential party and the renaming of the party to include a reference to the president's first name.
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