Stories about LANGUAGES from February, 2012
Bermuda: Economic Debate
“This Friday parliamentarians will hold the annual economic debate against the backdrop of a sustained global recession and two competing views about how to get out of it”: Respice Finem...
Cuba: Worry about Hunger Striker
Uncommon Sense hopes that political prisoner Ernesto Borges’ fate will not go the way of so many other hunger strikers, saying: “He needs you to learn his story and to...
Jamaica: Nicknames
Grasshopper Eyes The Potomac blogs about Jamaicans and their nicknames, explaining that it's an eccentricity with “meaning and real origins that mark a key characteristic of a person or their...
Barbados: Leap Day
B.C. Pires “couldn’t let the leap day go unobserved”.
Venezuela: Singer Onechot Becomes Victim of Violence He Decried
Onechot was wounded by a bullet to the head. The Venezuelan reggae singer sang of the violence in the city of Caracas as being completely crazy. In 2011 there were more than 19 thousand murders. Onechot's case is a symbol of the irony that not even the peacemakers are safe.
Macedonia: Skopje's Pollution Monitoring Saga Continues
NGO Greenbox is compensating for the lack of web interface for the air pollution measuring system in Skopje by posting photos of the display on their blog. Filip Stojanovski writes about the initiative.
Russia: Great Lent Has Begun
Citizen media outlets have captured the multidimensional essence of the Russian Orthodox Lenten season, which began on Monday, including issues such the religiosity of post-USSR Russia, the liturgical calendar, the peculiarities of the Orthodox traditions and fasting rituals compared to those observed in the West, and the public statements made by prominent church officials.
Slovakia: Chuck Norris Bridge
In the situation when the U.S. action film star Chuck Norris leads in the public vote for the name of the bridge across the Morava River into Austria [en], blogger...
Bangladesh: Boycotting Indian Products to Protest Brutality at Border
Indian Border Security Forces have killed more than 1,000 Bangladeshis in the last ten years. Some bloggers have started a campaign to boycott Indian products and services on March 1, 2012, to protest.
Chile: The Role of Public Libraries in Post-Earthquake Reconstruction
Several Chilean bloggers are sharing their thoughts on the second anniversary of the 8.8-magnitude earthquake that hit Chile on February 27, 2010. Enzo Abbagliati [es] looks at how public libraries...
Paraguay: An Interview on the Land Conflict in Alto Parana
Landowners are opposing review of land titles in the department of Alto Paraná “to determine if the lands are ‘ill-gotten,’ whose title deeds could be forged or faked or simply...
Costa Rica: Turning to Facebook to Fund TV Show
Sürrealista is a media producer in Costa Rica that has worked with many local bands. Now they want to have a 30 minute TV Show and to make that happen[es],...
Zambia: Ban Ki-moon Calls on Nation to Respect Gay Rights
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon visited Zambia on 24 February; he addressed parliament, met key political figures and visited the Victoria Falls. None of these events have made as much news as his call on the nation to respect gay rights.
Puerto Rico: March Against the Pipeline
Hundreds of people joined the "National March: Puerto Rico stands firm against the Pipeline" led by the organization Casa Pueblo. Photojournalist Ricardo Alcaraz shares some of his pictures of the protest in San Juan.
Thailand: Facebook Blamed for Teen Pregnancies
Netizens in Thailand react to the report of the National Economic and Social Development Board that popular social networking site Facebook is partly to blame for the unwanted teen pregnancies in the country. Thailand has one of the highest rates of teen pregnancies in the world.
Taiwan: Say No to Ractopamine Tainted American Meat
Ractopamine, a leanness-enhancing feed additive, is banned in Taiwan and more than 150 other countries. However, under pressure from the US government, the newly elected Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou is now considering lifting the ban.
Armenia: Sumgait Pogrom Anniversary
The Armenian Observer posts the harrowing details of at least 26 ethnic Armenian victims of the Sumgait pogrom which took place on 27 February 1988 and which seriously escalated the...
Azerbaijan: Khojaly Massacre Anniversary
As Azerbaijanis worldwide, as well as Turks in Istanbul, commemorated the 20th Anniversary of the Khojaly massacre, the most serious during the fighting with Armenia in Nagorno Karabakh during the...
International Mother Language Day in Francophone Regions
February 21st is International Mother Language Day. Discussion of the origins of this celebration, and a brief review of current developments in French language and new technologies.
Russia: An Overview of the Pre-Election Anglophone Blogging
Below is a quick overview of what some of the Anglophone Russia bloggers have been writing during the busy pre-election month of February.
Uruguay: Scenes From the Longest Carnival in the World
Every year, Uruguayans celebrate the longest carnival in the world. Percussionists, dancers and musical and theatrical performers take center stage for over 40 days. Sites and blogs dedicated to the event keep netizens around the world informed on the different aspects of carnival, while bloggers share photos, videos, and thoughts on this celebration of culture and heritage.
