Stories from Quick Reads from May, 2006
Hong Kong: Bus Uncle and Chief Executive
The Bus Uncle video (a video taken on a mobile phone of a young man and older man arguing on the top of a bus) has spread from the internet BBS and blogsphere to the mainstream media. ESWN has a full collection of all the internet products related to the...
Russia: Bibliography on Russian-Germans
J. Otto Pohl posts a list of English-language publications on Russian-Germans, one of the many nations deported by Stalin during WWII.
Lebanon: Looming Clash
lebanon.profile: published in anger over the recent Israeli bombing of Lebanon, the Israeli threat to bomb Beirut, and the need to call in Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice to halt Israeli military action given the impotence of Hezbollah and the Lebanese and Syrian governments. A dangerous war of ideologies is...
Iraq: Incomplete cabinet
Observers and Mohammed do not expect any considerable progress to happen soon and it seems that there will be more obstacles to deal with before the cabinet is complete. It makes Mohammed feels that the sound and smoke of explosions in Baghdad were not enough to wake up our politicians...
Palestine: Free Hait Cut
Palestinian hairdressers in the West Bank town of Hebron offered a free trim to local government employees who have not been paid for more than two months, Fadi said.
Egypt: Hunger Strike Escalates
Hossam el-Hamalawy report that the Egyptian prison authorities cracked down on the hunger-striking detainees in Tora, as the strike escalated, with 13 activists in total taking action on its second day. The strike started on Saturday night/Sunday morning, with six detainees refusing to eat. The prisoners made it clear to...
Peru: Voters Safety
Fabiola Bazo describes the measures being taken to ensure peaceful elections this coming Sunday.
Mexico: Preview of Open Source Movie Elephants Dream
Eduardo Arcos informs his readers that a preview showing of the film “Elephants Dream,” which was made using only open source software and is licensed with a Creative Commons 2.5 attribution license will be shown on Friday, June 2 at Non solo bar in Mexico City.
Argentina: Music: Travesti
Fernando Casale introduces readers to Travesti: “It means ‘transvestite’ and it’s the name of an Argentinian duo that came out from within the suburbs of Buenos Aires (by the way, neither of them are actual transvestites).” Several of the songs are available in mp3 format.
Peru: Creative Commons Launch
With exclamation marks of enthusiasm, Derecho y Cultura Libre desde Perú announces the planned launch date for Creative Commons licenses to be June 27th at the iLaw Peru workshop.
Latin America: Recognizing Female Chefs
Todas, whose tagline is “the blog for girls” lists an impressive range of female cooking blogs [ES] by Spanish-speaking women.
Mexico: Green Party Luxury Toilets
Wave Making is offended by the “VIP bathrooms” of Mexico's young Green Party candidate. (Also in Spanish)
Czech Republic: Wedding Tradition
David of Prague Blog writes about a fun wedding tradition that the Czechs seem to observe: “After the wedding ceremony, and before the reception, the best man “kidnaps” the bride and takes her to a pub. […] They drink whatever they want, and the groom goes searching for them. If...
Belarus: Lukashenko's Childhood and Family
Tobias Ljungvall writes about Aleksandr Lukashenko's difficult childhood and posts a photo of the dictator's aunt that he took in 2002. (Two photos of Lukashenko's wife have been added, too.)
Belarus, Russia: IMF Approves of Common Currency
TOL's Belarus Blog criticizes the IMF's approval of the common currency of Belarus and Russia: “Oh, yeah, IMF is not a political body and does not care or understand that ‘currency union’ has nothing to do with economics but only disquises attempt of political incorporation.”
Belarus: Hunger Strikes and Persecutions
Andrei Khrapavitski writes about “repressions and deaths” in Belarus, as well as two hunger strikes – by the young politicians and a businessman facing a 6-year sentence for tax evasion.
Serbia & Montenegro: Referendum's Potential Consequences
Srdjan Cvijic of The TransAtlantic Assembly writes on potential geopolitical consequences of the Montenegro vote: “Independence of Montenegro, inevitable nourishes independence aspirations of other territorial entities across Europe and the World.”
Estonia: Nordic Battle Group
Giustino of Itching for Eestimaa writes about the history of military action of Sweden, Norway, Estonia and Finland, and reports on a Nordic Battle Group's workshop that took place Tuesday.
Malaysia: Visiting Sabah
Filipino blogger Amelie at manila rat visits neighbouring Malaysian state of Sabah and shares some observations on the differences between Sabah and the Philippines.
Indonesia: Quake Proof Housing
SarapanEkonomi wants the Indonesia government to make people aware of the importance of building earthquake proof houses. The blogger also asks the government to encourage people in quake-prone area to buy disaster insurance by giving them tax breaks.
Philippines: Tacky advertising
Village idiot Savant wants Microsoft Philippines to grow up.
