David Sasaki

Global Voices Online - June 17, 2006

The Discussion Around the “Argentinean Country Brand”

When we hear “national marketing campaign” rarely do we think of the nation itself, but branding a country has become paramount for countries vying for investment and tourism in the global marketplace. Of course, representing a nation’s essence, and perhaps its hope, is no easy task as Jorge Gobbi relates in this summary of Argentine bloggers’ mixed reactions to a previewed glimpse of their country’s new logo.

Arabisc: The Arabic Bloggers Ken, Media, Anti-Blogging and the World Cup

Could it be true? A specific blogging watchdog office within Egypt’s State Security Offices? If the medium is the message, then the free speech nature of weblogs is obviously seen as a potent threat to Egypt’s authoritarian government. Also in Haitham Sabbah’s rundown of the Arabic blogging community: more reaction to the Gaza Beach Tragedy, “Wallism” in Morocco, and Google News in Arabic.

Indonesia: World Cup Fever & Minister Blog

Indonesia, despite never reaching the tournament as an independent country, is following this year’s World Cup just like the rest of the world. A. Fatih Syuhud summarizes Indonesian perspectives on the games and introduces the country’s first blog by a federal minister.

Ukraine, Russia: Dreams of a Biased Person

I have read that the difference between bloggers and journalists is that the bloggers admit their biases. Veronica Khokhlova translates a post by a Ukrainian blogger who, despite her prejudiced feelings towards Russia, wants nothing more than peace and good will between the two countries.

Deadly anti-mining protests in Mongolia, Reunion’s Cirque de Mafate, implications and origins of Japanese Kawaii, and much more can be found in today’s Global Roundups.

Get the blog buzz from East Asia, South Asia, the Americas, Oceania, Middle East & North Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa, and Eastern Europe, Russia, Central Asia & the Caucasus.

"improved tax collection dramatically, by about 44 percent. He slashed more than 500 jobs from the bureaucracy, eliminated perks for officials and cut salaries. In the end, he balanced the budget, raising both spending and revenue by about 60 percent."

Wherein Revaz guest DJ’s, Sparsh mumbles apologies for our tardiness, and HP finally gets his track from the CPT.

Whoever guesses this episode’s theme first chooses next episode’s bonus truck. Due to Sparsh’s metadata fumbling, it shouldn’t be too hard. Track list to be posted on Monday. Have a good weekend, it’s summer time y’all.

Episode 5 (Right click, save as)

Exactly! It's all the same debate, over and over and over again.

Interesting theories and interesting comments.

Global Voices Online - June 16, 2006

Interview with Leo Prieto

If you haven’t yet heard of Chilean blogger Leo Prieto then it’s about time you did. The internet superstar is responsible for a small army of some of Latin America’s most popular weblogs including FayerWayer and his own personal site. In this interview with Rosario Lizana, Prieto meditates on the growth and talent of Chile’s blogging community as well as the obstacles confronting Chile’s place as the regional leader in communications technology.

Landing at the Iraqi Blogodrome

The surprise visit by US President George Bush and the death of Al-Qaeda leader Zarqawi continue to elicit an assortment of reactions by Iraqi bloggers. Salam Adil presents them all clearly in this week’s review of political probing and pessimistic realism.

Tamil: Blog aggregators, education, middle east and manslaughter

Tamil blogs have matured considerably from a handful of early adopters to a lively community of aggregators, podcasts, and a directory. And the use of Tamil language on the internet is only likely to increase as Bharat writes of the decision by Tamil Nadu’s new government to make Tamil compulsory in public schools.

Kurdish oral history in Armenia, national identity in a global era, the EU’s response to Polish homophobia, and much more can be found in today’s Global Roundups.

Get the blog buzz from East Asia, South Asia, the Americas, Middle East & North Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa, and Eastern Europe, Russia, Central Asia & the Caucasus.

Only two of the comments are in English, but it's fascinating to see how multilingual countries (such as the usa) use language to monopolize national (or regional) identity.

Dubya's almost funny here ... and he's trying to be funny!

Supposedly being bulldozed as I type.

Let's you download videos from YouTube and watch them using VLC Player. Surely there must be instructions in English as well. I think there's also a firefox plugin.