Stories from Quick Reads from December, 2012
Promoting Recycling in Macedonia
Continuing the tradition that started last year (en, mk, nl, es), the Macedonian Twitter community has erected a new Christmas Tree made of plastic bottles (mk, mk, photos 1, 2, 3) in Skopje City Park in order to raise awareness of the importance of recycling. The event was again organized...
Uzbekistan's Boring TV
What's the most boring thing in the world? Waiting for a bus? Attending a philosophy class at a university? Elections in Belarus? No! The most boring thing in the world is Uzbek television!
A special Christmas gift
Peruvian blogger Cyrano [es] from Columna 17 ends his five-part series of Christmas-related posts republishing an article by Colombian Nobel laureate Gabriel García Márquez and says [es]: I hope you all like these words as much as I did and may them be my virtual present to all of you....
Greece: “Gods Just Got Bored Playing Dice”
German daily Handelsblatt reportedly picked Greek prime minister Antonis Samaras as politician of the year, after yet another round of austerity measures, another bailout tranche to Greece, a warning from the European Commission of more to come, and endless ‘GRexit’ speculation (on whether Greece will exit the Eurozone and default). Financial blogger Albert John offers...
Are Dynastic Politics Making a Comeback in East Asia?
First, Kin Jong-un took over North Korea after the death of his father. Then, Xi Jinping, the son of a communist politician veteran Xi Zhongxun, was announced the new leader of China. Last week, Park Guen-hye, daughter of South Korea’s longest-ruling dictator Park Chuang-Hee, was elected the new president.Chinese netizens...
China's Environment in 2012
From mass protests to trade wars, shale-gas drilling to hazardous cosmetics, chinadialogue has reviewed China's major environmental events in the past 12 months.
How to Say Singapore Correctly?
Is it Sing-GAH-Pore, Sing-GUH-pore, ‘sing-GUH-pawr’, ‘Singgah-pura’, Sinkapore? Blogger gdy2shoez reviews various interpretations on how to correctly pronounce the name of Singapore.
Philippines: Summary of Data Privacy Act
Data subject has the right to know if their personal information is being processed. The person can demand information such as the source of info, how their personal information is being used, and copy of their information. Janette Toral provides the salient features of the Philippines’ Data Privacy Act of...
Vietnam's Dipping Sauces
Vietnam is a wonderful world of sauces… At Hanoi's bia hơi establishments, for every four or five dishes ordered there will be a corresponding number of sauces coming to table, too. Mark Lowerson or @stickyinhanoi introduces Vietnam's popular dipping sauces.
Pangolin Rehabilitation Center in Cambodia
Half of the world’s species of pangolins are found in Asia where they have been hunted heavily to very low numbers. The Sunda pangolin, Manis javanica, is the only species found in Cambodia and is now very rare due to hunting pressures to supply the international illegal market. A new...
Prank Reveals the Depths of Anti-American Propaganda in the Russian Media
Anonymity affords ordinarily timid individuals the courage and opportunity to behave dishonestly. That, anyway, is the story we typically hear, especially in the context of the Internet. As Oleg Kashin recently pointed out in his column [ru] at openspace.ru, however, it takes two to make a successful prank (the prankster and the sucker)—a...
How the Chinese Government Uses Social Media in China
DANWEI has reported about the statistics and new trends in government use of social media in China based on The 2012 Sina Government Weibo Report[zh]. The report describes what types of government organizations are using Weibo accounts, ranks the most popular ones, and forecasts new trends for 2013.
A Look Back at the Great Potential of the Internet
Ginisty wrote [fr] the following on his blog: We are part of the Generation X, a generation that knew the world before there was such thing as the internet. We saw the internet blossom and spread to almost all population group and because of that, we might be better suited to grasp...
Hungarian Radio Employee Defends Government on Hidden Camera Video
Atlatszo.hu published [hu] a hidden camera video of Fruzsina Tóth, a protester representing the students (she is also a first-year sociology student), talking to a woman who claimed to be a journalist of the Hungarian Radio. At the Dec. 17 protest, students demanded the Hungarian Radio to read their 5...
Mexico: “Mayans Didn't Predict the End of the World”
According to the Mayans, what we are about to celebrate is the beginning of b’ak’tun 14. Very similar to us about to celebrate the beginning of 2013, or as happened some years ago, when we celebrated the beginning of 21st century. Group blog Pedazos de carbono [es] weighs in and...
Two Coins for the Boatman
From Guatemala, Fe de Rata‘s blogger Juan Pablo Dardón, lists his plan [es] for the end of times: I woke up early and put two golden coins one for each shoe […] two coins I'm telling you when meteorites fall down and all this gets open as an orange […]...
Honduras: “Don't Worry, Be Happy”
La Gringa, from La Gringa's blogicito shares her sentiments about so long anticipated December 21, 2012: Today is December 21, 2012, the last day of the Mayan calendar. Enjoy it as if it is the last day of the world! […] My last meal is going to be ice cream...
Chinese Responses to the North Korea Missile Launch
Adam Cathcart from Sino-NK has translated and collected a wide range of reports, comments and discussions from Chinese government, media outlets and concerned citizens about the North Korea Missile launch last week on December 12.
Video Plea for Public Toilet Facilities in Jharkhand, India
Amit Topno, a ‘Video Volunteers’ community correspondent reports that the residents of Nichitpur village in the Indian State of Jharkhand do not have any working public toilet. The villagers plea to the local authorities via this video to ensure that proper toilets are installed.
Film Festival on Organic Farming in Japan
The international Film Festival on Organic Farming was held in Satta Hall at Hosei University in Tokyo, December 16, 2012. One participant ama_san [ja] commented on Twitter: Yesterday I went to the International Film Festival on Organic Farming. I was surprised to learn about the power of soil. This day and age, we...
Xi Jinping: a hardline nationalist in control of China?
South Sea Conversations looks into the new Chinese Communist Party leader Xi Jinping's political speech, in particular his talk about “the great revival of the Chinese nation”'s implication to foreign policy. To me it seems equally possible that Xi Jinping’s “nationalist” rhetoric, backed up by already-conspicuous action against corruption, will...
