· April, 2006

Stories about Ideas from April, 2006

China: Staring happens

  28 April 2006

Laowiseass‘ Lalaoshi blogs out the reasons why he gets stared at in some places and passed over in others: “I remember no one stared at me in Zhumadian, a Henan province city where foreigners do not go unless they're journalists trying to sneak into the Shangcai AIDS village nearby.”

Taiwan: English teaching essentials

  26 April 2006

Mark at Doubting to shuō blogs critically on what separates good ESL teachers in Taiwan from the bad. “Obviously,” he writes, “this is pretty subjective.”

Japan: Bush photo mocked

  26 April 2006

Blog of the Riding Sun‘s Gaijin Biker has a caption contest for a photo of American president George W. Bush pulling on the arm of Chinese president Hu Jintao's suit during Hu's talk at the White House last weekend. Some contenders: “Let go of my gorram jacket before I get...

China: Red but greening

  26 April 2006

In ‘Is China Going Green, Part VIII?‘, China Law Blog‘s Dan Harris relates a Wall Street Journal story on increasing environmental awareness in the rapidly-developing Asian country to his own experiences there: “We have found the same thing in our China work for foreign companies, particularly in the last few...

China: Photoblogs—translation not needed

  26 April 2006

In the write-at-your-own-risk world of blogging in China, there are no fine lines between what's acceptable, what will get you blocked and what will get you thrown in jail. Lists of words and topics appear from time to time, but nothing official has ever been released. It's tragic. What for...

China: America's oil foe

  25 April 2006

China Confidential‘s Confidential Reporter continues to make the case that China and the United States are locked in a race to the bottom of the world's oil barrel. “Like a player in a modern version of the Great Game—the classic contest between the British empire and Czarist Russia for mastery...

DRC: Informal vs. Official World Order

  24 April 2006

UDPS Liege contrasts (FR) the official world order (UN and other international bodies) to the informal world order (multinational corporations and secret service agencies). According to the informal world order, the DRC is not a sovereign nation, continues the blogger.

Haitian Blogger Yon Ayisyen: “I'm No Revolutionary Hero”

  24 April 2006

Yon Ayisien (whose name means “A Haitian”) blogs at Ayisyen Sa Nap Regle? (“What's Up Haitians? ” in Creole) and might as well be renamed HaitiPundit. He is the only Haiti-based Haitian blogger who blogs about politics and his blogging wit and vision is surprising for a 25 year-old. Though...

Taiwan: Regional aggregator coming

  24 April 2006

Prominent Taiwanese blogger Portnoy has started an English-language blog, Portnoy in Between. First up? Time to see a Chinese-language blog aggregator. “It is nothing about English hegemony;” he writes of Asia247 set to open June 4, “it is about how to communicate effectively, how to break the language divide, and...

Bloglogue: US Dollars & Democracy in Iran!

Bloglogue’s first issue was about Iran in Media and several bloggers & non bloggers from different countries took part in discussion. Second issue is about a very hot issue: US 75 million dollars help to promote democracy in Iran. Five bloggers including two Americans, one Finnish and two Iranians joined...

Helping Russian Orphans

  21 April 2006

On March 19, a group of wonderful, kind people from Moscow took presents acquired on donations from ordinary Muscovites to an orphanage in Ivanovo, home to 122 children (o to 4 years old), most of whom have various disabilities. The effort – one of the many – was coordinated online...

Iran: Nuclear & Safety

Inja va Aknoun (means Here & Now) writes about nuclear technology & security related questions (Persian). He says nobody in Iran talks about the safety of people who live in the neighbourhood of nuclear enrichment buildings.

Mexico: Learning Freedom

  19 April 2006

Leon Felipe Sanchez introduces the new weblog, Aprender la Libertad (Learning Freedom) (ES), which he is co-authoring with Ariel Vercelli (ES). The blog continues themes from a book by Vercelli with the same name.

China: U.S. relations analyzed

  19 April 2006

The opening editorial for this week's issue of the Chinese-language, internet-based, international politics-analyzing Far & Wide Journal takes a quick look at the diplomatic buildup to Chinese president Hu Jintao's visit to the United States this week, past visits of Chinese leaders and Bush's visit last month to India. “Compared...

China: Race for oil

  19 April 2006

“[B]y 2020,” writes the China Confidential blogger-reporter, “the world's most populous nation will have to import 70 percent of its oil. Soaring demand for oil is certain to be accompanied by increased competition for secure oil supplies.” “China's biggest competitor for oil, of course, is the US,” the blogger adds.