· May, 2009

Stories from Quick Reads from May, 2009

Jamaica, U.S. Virgin Islands: Cruise Control

  29 May 2009

The popularity of cruises to Caribbean destinations gets Jamaican diaspora blogger Labrish thinking about “the overwhelm of the environment, marine and land, that these mega-cities-on-the-sea bring with them.”

Belize: Earthquake

  29 May 2009

Belize-based blogger As The Coconuts Drop recounts his experience of yesterday's strong earthquake.

Barbados, Trinidad & Tobago: Schengen Waived

  29 May 2009

As Bajan Dream Diary reports that “Barbadians travelling to the European Union will no longer need to obtain the Schengen visa”, Trinidad and Tobago's fake Prime Minister asks: “Since when do Trinis visit Europe anyway?”

Jamaica, Cuba: Amnesty International Report

  29 May 2009

Iriegal and Jamaica Salt comment on Amnesty International’s criticism of the Jamaican police force, while Havana Times notes that the organization”recognized…that the US blockade on Cuba has a negative effect on the general population.”

Japan: Open access online journal Journal@rchive

  29 May 2009

Librarian Charles Ellwood Jones writes about academic journals focusing on antiquity at open access online journal Journal@rchive, an archive site of J-STAGE operated by the Japan Science and Technology Agency. The site offers high resolution scans and OCR texts on a wide range of journals.

China: Police harassment

  29 May 2009

Joel Martinsen from DANWEI translated Ai Weiwei's blog posts on how he was harassed by security “rice streamers” (meaning stupid polices) and lawyer blogger Liu Xiaoyuan's article explaining Ai's rights. Ai Weiwei's blogs hosted on Sina and Sohu have been suspended.

China: Deng Yujiao Case Reporters Assaulted

  29 May 2009

ESWN translated local forum news reporting on the assault of Southern People Weekly magazine reporter Wei Yi when he tried to interview the maternal grandmother of Deng Yujiao – the nail beautician who stabbed to dead a local government official in defense of sexual assault.

Azerbaijan: Toyland

Fighting windmills? Take a pill introduces its readers to “toy,” the local word for wedding, and comments on the role marriage plays in society in Azerbaijan.

Bangladesh: Waiting For The Community Radio Boom

  28 May 2009

Panos Radio South Asia airs a special report on the status of the community radios in Bangladesh. Following a progressive and pro-radio broadcasting law enacted by the government last year, 116 community radio stations are waiting for the final nod to be on air.

UN Human Rights Council Backs Sri Lankan Government

  28 May 2009

Sepia Mutiny reports that the UN human rights council passed a resolution praising Sri Lanka's victory over the LTTE and refused calls to investigate allegations of war crimes by both sides in the fag end of the civil war. Human Rights Watch condemned the resolution.

Sri Lanka: Prabhakaran's DNA Matches With Son

  28 May 2009

Bailaman reports that DNA taken from the body of the LTTE leader Prabhakaran matches with his son Charles Anthony. This discovery by Sri Lankan Army medical experts is supposed to end all speculations over his death.

Lebanon: Women in Parliament

“There are actually more men with the first name of Mohammad than there are women in parliament,” writes BabaGannouj et La Zaytouni about the current number of women parliamentarians and about the very small number of women candidates (12) compared to the hundreds of men running for the upcoming elections...

Honduras: 7.1 Scale Earthquake Hits

  28 May 2009

A 7.1 scale earthquake has hit Honduras. Janpedrano [es] writes about communicating with friends and family around the country through internet, SMS, and telephone making sure that they were alright.

Bahamas: Flooding

  28 May 2009

Weblog Bahamas republishes an article which addresses the serious impact of flooding on the island.

Trinidad & Tobago: AG Resigns

  28 May 2009

Bloggers have their say about the resignation of Trinidad and Tobago's Attorney General. This Beach Called Life: “The AG resigned, bringing with it accusations she wouldn’t tow The Party Line. Or support The Dictatorship, depending how you say it”; Jumbie's Watch: “This is a red herring to detract us from…the...