The blogosphere bears witness to the deadly tropical storm "Agatha"

In this edition : the blogosphere bears witness to the deadly tropical storm "Agatha" in Guatemala. Web users’ frustration with BP keeps growing as the oil spill continues to spread.

WEB NEWS

GUATEMALA: TROPICAL STORM AGATHA

Central America has been severely hit by tropical storm Agatha. Many have been left dead and thousands of others displaced. Entire neighborhoods have been buried under mud slides caused by heavy rain from this first tropical storm of the season. Guatemala has been hit the worst, and its residents are sharing their experiences online. 18

Videos posted online by web users bear witness to the extent of the damage. In this YouTube video we see residents of a Guatemalan village being evacuated.

http://www.youtube.com/user/Gotoguatemala

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KVtg_J_HgIg

Local web users have posted dozens of images on these sites. Some show the casualties of the tropical storm.

http://twitcaps.com/search?q=AgathaGT

http://twitpic.com/1sl995

The government has posted photos on its Flickr account. This one is disturbing. We see a crater that formed in Guatemala City on Sunday. The underlying limestone bedrock was dissolved by groundwater, causing the sinkhole to develop and for the ground to give way.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/gobiernodeguatemala/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/gobiernodeguatemala/4657053554/

Others show overcrowded shelters, some were visited by President Alvaro Colom, like here in Gualan.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/gobiernodeguatemala/4657626209/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/gobiernodeguatemala/4658216510/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/gobiernodeguatemala/4657607405/

The government is extremely active online and is making hourly updates on its Twitter status. Reports, repairs, mobilisation of the emergency services, everything is detailed.

http://twitter.com/TuGuatemala

And despite the damage, certain glimmers of hope are coming to light: this blogger tells the story of Maria Magdalena who lost her house, but managed to save the produce in her little grocery shop. She has set herself up in a refuge which used to be a school, and is supplying the 500 people there.

https://cgnnoticiasdeguatemala.wordpress.com/2010/05/31/una-historia-de-esperanza-en-la-tormenta-dona-maria-magdalena-salvo-su-tienda-durante-la-inundacion-y-ahora-provee-en-el-albergue/

OIL SPILL: ANGER AT BP GROWS ONLINE

Following BPs latest failure and operation Top Kill, which was unable to stop the oil leaking into the Gulf of Mexico, web users are angrier than ever and are mobilising online for the British company to pay the price for this disaster.

Calls to boycott BP are progressively growing as the company’s different initiatives to stop the oil leak continue to fail. A web site and a Facebook page have been set up encouraging Americans to stop buying BP petrol.

http://boycottbp.org/why

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Boycott-BP/119101198107726?ref=ts

The appeal has also been relayed on video sharing sites where several clips like these ones are circulating denouncing the petrol group’s management of this environmental crisis and criticizing its incapacity to sort out the problem. Demonstrations in front of BP service stations, like here in New York, have been organized over the past few weeks by outraged citizens from all over the US.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-EY_UtG1Uj8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbvYbGaRrCk

But despite the scale of the crisis, some web users have managed to hold on to their sense of humour. In this satirical video, a fake BP head tries to explain to US citizens that the oil spill might be a disaster, but this pales in comparison to what Great Britain has brought to the world, like the Beatles for example, or the Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAnsA96JK6Y&NR=1

Others have created fake adverts for the British company. This one for example is stressing the fact that oil is natural so there is no reason why it should not be spread over beaches or into the sea.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bafQBd4Zeg

Finally, one blogger is denouncing the British firm via this version of a Lady gaga hit.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQrN56fczgc

VIDEO OF THE DAY

The Israeli army’s raid on a pro-Palestinian aid flotilla heading for Gaza has sparked international outrage. The Hebrew state is accusing members of the flotilla of starting the violence and is broadcasting several videos on the net to support their theory. According to the Israel Defense Force, we see passengers on the ship attack Israeli soldiers using, notably a metal pole, stun grenades and firebombs.

http://www.youtube.com/user/idfnadesk#p/u/10/Z2duPV9MQIc

PEOPLETOO.RU

On the web site peopletoo.ru, two Russian artists Alexei Lyapunov et Lena Ehrlich invite you into their original world and introduce you to their work. These are meticulous pieces that have the particularity of being made entirely from paper right down to the very last detail.

http://peopletoo.ru/index.html

WE ARE PRODUCTEURS.COM

The French director-producer Luc Besson has teamed up with a telephone operator to launch the site “We are producteurs.com” on which web users can take part in the production of a film. Contrary to other collaborative production sites, the project is not just limited to financial contributions. Web users are able to give their point of view at each stage of the film’s production, in the casting or the storyline for example.

http://www.we-are-producteurs.com/