· August, 2011

Stories about Ideas from August, 2011

Russia: Why We Are Leaving Our Country Behind

RuNet Echo  31 August 2011

Recent months have seen a new spin on the topic of emigration that seems to be ever-present in the Russian online space. Several powerful blog posts written by people from different social groups have become a platform for expressing one's take on the present and future of the country and people's place in it.

Trinidad & Tobago: Thoughts on the SoE

  29 August 2011

Outlish puts forward four reasons “why…the state of emergency should not be extended”, while KnowTnT.com sums up the first week of the SoE “from a few different angles.”

Jamaica: Obama Rejects Plea for Garvey Pardon

  23 August 2011

Geoffrey Philp is surprised by the Obama administration's rejection of the request for a presidential pardon for Marcus Garvey on the grounds that “it would be ‘a waste of time and resources’ since Garvey had been ‘dead for ages‘”, saying: “Marcus Garvey has joined the ancestors. So this plea for…exoneration...

U.S.V.I.: The Power of Film

  22 August 2011

“Is there any artistic medium that raises more ugly questions of representation and power than film?” In the context of this, A Nation or Nobody blogs about film and neo-colonialism.

Jamaica: Harmony with Nature

  18 August 2011

Labrish Jamaica refers to the theories of environmentalist Paul Shepard and psychiatrist Carl Jung to support “modern man’s ability to have a right relationship with the earth, even amongst the heaping evidence to the contrary.”

South Korea: Blood Type Personality Theory, How It Works

  16 August 2011

The blood type personality theory claims that people's blood type is predictive of their personality and compatibility with others. Nowhere is this belief more popular than in South Korea and Japan. Yoo Eun Lee delves deeper into the theory's history.

Trinidad & Tobago: Fork in the Road for England

  15 August 2011

“Just as there are two exits in Clapham Junction station, there are two paths for England. One takes us down the road of xenophobic, society-crushing finger pointing and name-calling. The other path is to a society we all feel a part of”: Outlish posts an interesting youth perspective on the...

Japan: How to Unplug Your Life and Save Electricity

  15 August 2011

People in Japan have been unplugging their lives as electricity-saving measures have been implemented to cope with power shortages. The effectiveness of the measures is yet to be proven but many have taken this opportunity to change their power consuming life style.

Portugal: A Guide for Digital Literacy

  15 August 2011

With the aims to “increase digital literacy and citizenship”, the Portuguese blog Sobre Literacia Digital (About Digital Literacy) [pt] by Ricardo Santos Silva, provides tips, a range of examples, and step-by-step exercises on how to verify sources and find facts and people, among other internet related subjects [pt].  

China Model in Two Different Cities

  14 August 2011

In the past few years, the term "China Model" has been widely discussed among intellectuals in China, and is now slowly spreading to other developing countries in Asia, Latin America and Africa. In short, the China Model is a system of government that is based upon economic freedom and political repression.

Jamaica: The “Performance of Gender”

  12 August 2011

“Everyone is involved in this baseless discrimination. Effeminacy is apparently extremely off-putting. The effeminate man, whether he is gay or straight, catches a whole lot of hell”: Under the Saltire Flag suggests that “what is being policed is not sexuality, but gender.”

Haiti: Jobs Needed for Progress

  10 August 2011

Love Haiti suggests that “the hardships facing Haiti today may be compared to the Great Depression of the United States”, explaining: “The point of this analogy is simply to state that school/education should not be at the top of Haiti's agenda, a country confronted with a housing crisis, an unprecedented...