Stories from Quick Reads from July, 2010
Bulgaria: Government's Pressure on the Media
Veni Markovski writes about the Bulgarian government's most recent attack on the independent media: “This latest pressure on the free media comes after a number of worrisome cases, involving journalists in the last years. […] Every government in the last 20 years has come to power at the promise of...
Japan: Art on an island
Nazra Zahri blogged – with gorgeous photos and a video – about her trip to Teshima, one of the seven islands that's celebrating Setouchi International Art Festival.
Is Religion Good for China?
Kai Pan looks into the blooming of Christianity in China in recent years and addresses the question on whether religion is good for China.
China: First hand account of two Chinese artists arrested and beaten
Under the Jacaranda Tree posts a first hand account written by Diane Gatterdam on the arrest of two Chinese artists, Yang Licai and Wu Yuren.
China: Looking for supplier
David Petersson gives some tips on identifying good and reliable suppliers in China.
Kenya: Support for Alcoholic Drinks Bill
Alan Masakhalia features on Mzalendo Vox Pop arguing that the Kenyan President should assent to the Alcoholic Drinks Bill. Mzalendo Vox Pop is a feature readers share their views on their constituency.
Russia Tops Aggressive Internet Traffic Rating
Habrahabr users discuss [RUS] the latest Akamai‘s “State of the Internet” report. According to the research, 12 percent of all the Internet-attacks in the first quarter of 2010 were carried out from the territory of Russia, while the U.S. hackers took the “second prize” for 10 percent of the world's...
Russia: Prosecutor That Banned Youtube Gives Interview
Marker.ru publishes an interview with Vladimir Pakhomov, city prosecutor that obliged the local Internet provider to block Youtube, Web.archive.org and other websites [EN]. Pakhomov expressed Chinese-government-style philosophy on Internet-filtering: “Provider is obliged to filter the information that goes through its channels to the Worldwide Web”, and didn't exclude probable filtering...
Bangladesh: Weddings Here And There
Mezba at A Bengali in T.O. compares Bangladeshi wedding ceremonies in Bangladesh and Canada and you will be surprised with the findings.
Bangladesh: Constitutional Reforms
An Ordinary Citizen discusses about the recent process of constitutional reforms in Bangladesh, the controversies surrounding it and expectations from it.
Brazil: Disgust at prejudice against atheists on live TV
Robson Fernando comments [pt] on a declaration of the police-show host José Luiz Datena who has “associated atheists and disbelief in God with everything that sucks” and said that “Atheists have no moral boundaries, the most brutal crimes are linked to the ‘lack of God in the heart'” on live...
Taiwan: Build a home for bats
Green architect, book author, and blogger Alin(阿羚) introduces how to build a home for bats and decrease the rampant trouble of mosquitoes in Taiwan[zht] because each bat can feed on at least 1000 mosquitoes and bugs a day.
Taiwan: Threatened by Microsoft
Tetralet complains about his recent experience with Microsoft [zht] about how the software giant emailed and called to threaten that if Tetralet does not welcome Microsoft to “help his company on software property management“, Microsoft would report to superiors and “what's going to happen is not predicable“.
Latvia: ‘The Harmony Center’ Political Bloc
All About Latvia writes about Saskaņas Centrs (“The Harmony Center”), Lativa's “most popular” political bloc.
Hungary: Poet Endre Ady
Hungarian Spectrum writes about Endre Ady (1877-1919), “one of the most famous Hungarian poets.”
Russia: Interview With ‘A Good Treaty’ Russia Blogger
Sublime Oblivion interviews the author of A Good Treaty blog, continuing the Watching the Russia Watchers interview series that was launched by Andy Young of Siberian Light.
Poland: “Rydzykisation”
Raf Uzar writes about the outcome of the Polish presidential election and the “rydzykisation” of the country.
Poland: Coats of Arms
Polish cities’ coats of arms competition – at Polandian.
Ukraine: Photos From Kherson, Berdychiv, etc.
Danil Nikitin's photos from Kherson, Berdychiv and a number of other Ukrainian locations (UKR).
Belarus: A Conscientious Objector Released From Jail
BelarusDigest reports on the release from prison of conscientious objector Yevgeny Yakovenko.
Ukraine: Simferopol Graffiti
At Russia! blog, Tatyana Bokova-Foley re-posts photos of the graffiti in the Crimean capital of Simferopol and writes about the possible identity of the artist who created them.
