World Blog Day

First, it's World Blog Day. To celebrate, I'm to provide links here to five blogs I like.

Some of them are supposed to be from cultures other than mine. Reluctant admission: as multicultural as I am (really!), most of the blogs I read are done by bloggers shamefully similar to me in interests and cultures.

So, okay, a challenge: identify two blogs I like from different cultures.

The first two blogs I'd like to direct you, my hypothetical reader, to are no-brainers. First and foremost, bOING bOING, truly, as the tagline says, "a directory of wonderful things" ("things" in the most general sense), and Infomaniac, a blog run by a former librarian and research editor at the Miami Herald, which does not, however, limit its scope to South Florida.

One legal blog. But which? I regularly read half a dozen, most on Florida law, but not all. The one I most regularly read, and enjoy, is Abstract Appeal, a website whose author, Matt Conigliaro, reads every Florida appellate case (that's all five state District Courts of Appeal, the Florida Supreme Court [which I omitted when I originally posted this], all the Eleventh Circuit Federal cases that interpret Florida law, and whatever Federal Supreme Court cases do likewise -- quite a load) that comes out, and comments on selected cases, and other related issues, concisely and intelligently. But Mr. Conigliaro doesn't limit himself to appellate cases; he spent a lot of time covering the Schiavo case. His coverage of that case made me proud to be a member of the Florida Bar, as he is -- it was detailed, only as complicated as necessary (and he used very little jargon) and, even though Mr. Conigliaro used to be a Deputy Solicitor General in the Florida Attorney General's office under Governor Jeb Bush -- which means that he would argue cases for the (generally Republican) Florida state government in front of the Florida Supreme Court -- absolutely free of bias. In fact, to the extent that I can impute any opinion to Mr. Conigliaro, it is that he stood against Governor (and President) Bush's attempts to influence the process that governed the adducement and interpretation of Teri Schiavo's last wishes and for the ability of the courts to make that determination without executive or legislative influence, and for the rule of law.

It wouldn't surprise me if Mr. Conigliaro some day becomes a Florida appellate judge.

Two blogs from different cultures. (A disclaimer: I just went looking for these blogs today, but I intend to read them henceforth.) First, Naaz, an excellent choice: a blog written by an adventurous Indian expat living in Bogotá, Colombia. I like the combination of viewpoints, the travel in Colombia, the variety of interests, the writing. I look forward to following her adventures.

Okay, three blogs from different cultures. Naaz, Balagan in Jerusalem ("balagan" means mess), run by an Israeli woman from Brazil, a journalist who was right there during the disengagement (this blog I had heard of before), and Shalom Israel, the blog of a guy who moved from North Carolina to Israel. Notable because he's not Jewish. He doesn't explain why he moved to Israel (is it correct to say he made aliyah?), according to Google, but perhaps he will in the future.

What did you do to celebrate World Blog Day?