Stories about Ideas from March, 2009
Cuba: Open Mic Night
Cubans Generation Y and Octavo Cerco blog about “an unforgettable night” in front of open microphones.
Puerto Rico: Murder Rate
“We. Don't. Give. A. Damn. Because it isn't really ‘Us’ getting killed, it's ‘them.’ We don't see the obvious. There is no ‘them’ on an island. There's only Us”: Puerto Rico's Gil the Jenius links to a study reporting that a 10% increase in graduation rates can reduce murder rates...
Jamaica, Suriname: Creative Connections
“This is why it's important for collaborations to take place in every sphere–in different parts of the Caribbean and elsewhere. For cultural criticism is partly detective work and you can't read all the clues sitting marooned on an island”: Jamaican Annie Paul explores the connections among Caribbean artists.
Bhutan: Banking Via SMS
Tshering Tobgay reports that SMS based mobile banking service has started in Bhutan: “The concept seems to be quite simple: you send instructions by SMS to the bank, and they respond with the required information by return SMS.”
Puerto Rico: The Internet
Gil the Jenius thinks that “Puerto Rico has not embraced the power of the Internet to a significant degree.”
Trinidad & Tobago: Identifying the Problem
Blogging from Trinidad and Tobago, This Beach Called Life thinks that the biggest problem with UDECOTT “isn’t that the public thinks it is a corrupt organization…[it's] that the masses who screamed about the corruption with the Piarco Airport Terminal are now silent and indifferent about UDECOTT.”
UAE: Mystery installations
Samuraisam has spotted strange installations in the middle of the desert in the UAE after a closer look at Google Earth maps. Help him find out what they are.
Brazil: Beyond cyberspace – when blogs move offline
Books are becoming e-books and blogs and websites have appeared as books and other types of media. In this state of flux, it looks like the paper book has the power to beat virtual writing rather than the other way round. In Brazil, there is more than just a fashion of launching e-books to attract readers and writers but also an opposite stream in which blogs have reached the offline shelves as well as the movie screens.
Indonesia: Sharia Finance
As the financial system crumbles in the developed world, some analysts in Indonesia are proposing to replace it with the Sharia Finance system.
Malaysia: Dress worth $30 million
Despite the economic crisis, a designer in Malaysia has created a dress adorned with 751 diamonds. The price tag: US$30 million. The dress is called the “Nightingale of Kuala Lumpur”
Barbados: Moving On Up?
“Will Barbados’ proposed housing developments be part of an economic and social package that is geared to give people a better standard of living?”: Living in Barbados questions the wisdom of high-rise developments on the island.
Jamaica, Canada: Caribbean Voices
Is there room in Canadian literature for a Caribbean voice? Jamaican diaspora author and blogger Pamela Moredecai shares her thoughts…
India: Attending TEDIndia vs. Buying a TATA Nano
Pluggd.in is irked by the high cost (in Indian standard) of registration of the TED India conference and compared that one can buy a Tata Nano car with the same amount. The blog adds: “There are ‘Ideas worth spreading’, but there are ‘people worth knowing/interacting whose ideas are worth spreading’”...
Qatar: Lost in the Carpark
Christian San Juan, a Filipino based in Qatar, reminds us how easy it is to forget where your car is in a large carpark.
Global Voices Book Challenge – Read Your Way Around the World!
April 23 is UNESCO World Book Day – and just because the Global Voices team loves blogs, doesn’t mean we have forgotten other forms of the written word! In fact, because we think reading literature is such an enjoyable way to learn about another culture, we have a fun challenge for all Global Voices contributors and readers, and bloggers everywhere.
Barbados: Being Green
Living in Barbados admits: ‘It's not easy being green”, but he's trying.
Guyana: Don't Get Fooled Again
Guyana-Gyal blogs about Allen Stanford, issuing this piece of advice she learned from a friend: “Beware of those with sugar-tongue and oily lips.”
Libya: From Funerals to Weddings
From the death of a cousin after a lethal penicillin injection to discussing why Libyan men prefer marrying 'stupid' women over those who are educated, Fozia Mohamed sifts through posts written by established and new bloggers in her country to bring us those stories and more.
Israel: The Language of Taxis
Rasha Helwa, who is a Palestinian citizen of Israel living in Acre (and describes herself as living in Palestine), has written a series of short posts at her blog Zaghroda about her thoughts when taking shared taxis, and on the significance of the language - Arabic or Hebrew - that the driver chooses to use.
Israel Boasts Top Researchers in Medical Marijuana
Caught with cannabis in Israel? It may very well go to a good use. Israelity reveals that Israel has one of the top medical marijuana programs in the world, treating pain associated with cancer, HIV, Crohn's disease, multiple sclerosis, and post-traumatic stress syndrome, with the narcotic.
Trinidad & Tobago: Pompoms
“I thought for a second I was hallucinating. Like I think I’m hallucinating when I hear some wild rumour that Papa Patos wants to invoke the Terrorism Act during the Summit of the Americas to stop people from protesting. I mean it can’t be, can it? Cheerleaders in cricket? Why,...
