Blogs & Ecology

Below is a selection of recent posts by bloggers from around Central and Eastern Europe on social networking, participatory media, online activism and other related issues.

Eternal Remont writes about Russian businessman Oleg Teterin, who claims to have trademarked the ;-) emoticon:

[…] Seeing that the Russian patent agency will grant a trademark for just about anything these days, Eternal Remont is attempting to trademark “Oleg Teterin,” (trademark pending) and will expect payment whenever anyone speaks, writes, prints, or otherwise uses this phrase in all media known to humanity, existing or future. […]

Bookmark/Search this post with:

• Delicious
• Digg
• Reddit
• Technorati

Source: Global Voices Online

Cafe Turco writes on the inaccuracies in Resolution 819 film and posts a translation of Hasan Nuhanović's article that challenges “the veracity of some scenes.” Srebrenica Genocide Blog writes on a recent exhumation of “50 complete and 883 partial human remains of Srebrenica genocide victims” and links to a

Olive harvesting in Albania, John Paul II monuments in Poland, a Soviet military hardware “cemetery” in Moscow, and more: Central and Eastern Europe-based bloggers share their recent travel observations and photos.

Albania

- Stepping Stones has posted photos of two elderly Albanian village women: the first one is harvesting olives in “the old-fashioned way”; the second one has her black apron filled with “tiny daisies,” which she is picking for a local company and gets paid less than $1 per kilo.

Hudin writes about yesterday's blast in Zagreb, Croatia, which killed Ivo Pukanić, publisher and editor-in-chief of Nacional, and Niko Franjić, a journalist: “Pukanić had been fearing for his life for some time. I have no idea as to what his dealings were behind the scenes, but on the surface, he appeared to try to report on what was actually wrong in Croatia. This is not a popular stance to take.”

Zagreb, Croatia's capital, was stunned by a car bomb attack directed at Ivo Pukanić, which killed both him and fellow journalist Niko Franjić on Thursday.

Arhangel summed it up (HRV) in detail:

…tonight around 18:20 pm in Palmotić street in Zagreb in the courtyard of “Nacional” an explosive device killed Ivo Pukanić, chief executive NCL, and Niko Franjić, his colleague. As I was first informed of the news, a remote control detonated the explosive device under Pukanić's Lexus. Croatia is in shock.

Bookmark/Search this post with:

• Delicious
• Digg
• Reddit
• Technorati

Source: Global Voices Online

Romano Them re-posts a Reuters piece on the discovery of two mass graves containing the bodies of murdered Roma in Bosanski Dubočac, Bosnia & Herzegovina: “The order for the killings was issued by a number of Croatian Army generals, including Ante Prkačin, claims Nijaz Čaušević Medo, a former high ranking Croatian Army officer, as reported by Banja Luka daily Glas Srpske.”

Hudin writes about “cyber squatting” on city and country names - and about what seems like a rare exception to the rule: rijeka.com, a photo gallery page for Rijeka, “Croatia's most northern coastal city east of the Istrian Peninsula.”

Csíkszereda Musings recounts a summer drive through the Balkans and, among other things, compares Bosnian motorways to those in Romania.

Anegdote reports that Croatia's Feral Tribune “is no more.”

Michael J. Totten of Middle East Journal writes about and posts photos from his recent trip through the Balkans (93 comments); LimbicNutrition Weblog posts his response to Totten.

Albanian Blogger relates his frustrating experience of getting Croatian entry visas for himself and his colleagues.

Gray Falcon links to translated and subtitled web copies of “Jasenovac: Blood and Ashes,” a 1983 documentary by Croatian director Lordan Zafranović about the largest death camp in Croatia during WWII.

Balkan Baby writes about the “Balkan interests” in the Euro 2008 championship.

A discussion of Marko Perkovic Thompson's recent concert in Zagreb - at Balkan Baby.

Sleeping With Pengovsky writes about the Slovenian Diaspora: “You see, people of Slovenia and Croatia lived in peace throughout history. We may say bad things about each other, but in the end Slovenes like Croatian seaside and music and Croats like Slovene mountains and shops. And both hate each other’s roads. It’s only when people who are stuck in 1945 and have a 19th century mindset (i.e. land is power) start stirring the pot, that all hell breaks loose.”