Stories about English from June, 2008
Puerto Rico: Sacred Journey
The Voice of the Taino People Online reports on the progress of the Peace and Dignity Journey, being run from New York to Panama, in honour of the indigenous peoples of the Caribbean region.
Trinidad & Tobago: Silence that Kills
Four Fingers and a Thumb 2.0 speaks out against political tyranny and the passivity that allows it to continue. “A dictator in the world,” she says, “is like the abusive father in the community that no-one wants to report.”
Trinidad & Tobago: Poetic Port of Spain
Trinidadian blogger Sweetlime dips into the newly published Echo of Basho. He discovers that even though haiku and Port of Spain are as distinct as “oil and water”, authors Alec de Verteuil and Dawn Glashier have melded them beautifully.
Bermuda: Statistical massage
Bermuda blogger Vexed Bermoothes comments on the government's announcement that it will now release tourism statistics quarterly, instead of monthly. In his view, it's a situation “ripe for abuse.”
Jamaica: Kingston On The Edge
From Jamaica, Active Voice reviews KOTE (Kingston On The Edge), a visual arts festival, where she says “For a brief moment in time we were treated to the kind of vibrant effervescent atmosphere we ought legitimately to expect from a well-connected and functioning art scene.”
India: Social Justice and Free Speech
Law and Other Things comments on a situation, where an editor has been arrested, and describes it as a tussle between social justice and freedom of press.
GV Summit- Day Two Completed!
While Day One of the Global Voices Summit focused on Advocacy, today focused more upon Global Voices proper, with information presented on the other GV projects of Rising Voices and Lingua. The day began with an introduction by Georgia Poppelwell (GV Managing Director) and Solana Larsen (GV Managing Editor), in...
Malaysia: Opposition leader charged with sodomy
Masnoorwak urges Malaysia opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim to stop hiding in the Turkish Embassy and answer the charge that he was involved in a sodomy case.
Indonesia: Plane crash
Five passengers who died in a plane crash in Indonesia were former colleagues of blogger Brian Lim.
Philippines: Callous leadership?
Neo Filipino criticizes politicians, including the Philippine president, who visited the US despite the typhoon devastation and ferry tragedy which hit the country last week.
Thailand: Prime Minister and origami bird
Tor finds it amusing that Thailand's Prime Minister managed to make an origami bird while the opposition accused him of being unfit to run the country in a parliamentary session. The Curious Incidents of a Girl has a different opinion.
Cambodia: Khmer Rouge Tribunal
Updates on the Khmer Rouge Tribunal can be read in these blogs: Khmer Rouge Trial Web Portal and ECCC Reparations
Singapore: Archbishop Gregory Yong Sooi Ngean, 83
Peacebella.com and A quiet moment write about the passing away of Roman Catholic Archbishop Emeritus of Singapore, Gregory Yong Sooi Ngean.
Public Health Projects to Use Citizen Media to Empower Community Voices
Rising Voices and Open Society Institute's Health Media Initiative are happy to announce the six newest health-focused citizen media outreach projects. We received over 110 proposals from health activists and organizations based in over 50 different countries. The six selected grantees represent the most innovative applications of citizen media tools like blogs, podcasts, and online video to help further the advocacy goals of public health organizations, and to empower the communities they work with.
GV Summit: Day One a Success!
The first day of the Global Voices 2008 Summit in Budapest, Hungary was a wild success, as far as we can see (obviously we can't know all of the implications this early in the game). The morning started with an introduction from Ethan Zuckerman and Rebecca MacKinnon, founders of Global...
Kuwait: Video Games, Newspapers and Female Bloggers
Who should regulate the video gaming scene in Kuwait? This and many other questions are on the minds of Kuwaiti bloggers in this round up. Forzaq8 speaks of laws dealing with video games and who he thinks should regulate them. He writes: Politics shouldn’t interfere in games , i was...
Palestine: Visiting Arafat's Tomb
Fugitive Peace blogger Gideon Lichfield recently visited Arafat's tomb. He reports: “I paid my first visit to Yasser Arafat’s new mausoleum… It’s an austere, brilliant pearl incongruously plopped in the middle of the ramshackle Muqata complex, the presidential headquarters: a cube-shaped mausoleum at the end of a long plaza, with...
Israel: No Nuts for You!
Israel is the world's largest consumer of pistachio nuts, but recent reports reveal that illegal imports from Iran may be its primary source. Jewschool's Shalom Rav jokes: “Anyone with even a passing knowledge of Israeli snacking habits will attest that Israel will be hard pressed to give up their pistachio...
Omani Blogger Passes Away
The Omani Blogging Community grieves over the sudden death of Omani Blogger Sleepless in Muscat.
Omani E-Transactions Law Issued
The first Oman law dealing with electronic transactions was passed recently. Blue Chi writes about why bloggers and webmasters should know what it says.
Palestine: She Shoots, She Scores
Muna Nawajaa has scored a victory for social justice. Using a camera given to her by B'Tselem's Shooting Back project, Palestinian Nawajaa recorded the masked beating of members of her family, resulting in an investigation and arrest of suspects by Israeli police. In a post entitled “Cameras as Weapons,” Uriel...