Stories from Quick Reads from December, 2012
The Ten Biggest Sex and Gender Stories of 2012 in China
DANWEI has translated an annual roundup done by the Sex and Gender Institute at the Beijing Forestry University on the ten biggest sex and gender stories of 2012 in China.
Guaraní language is less spoken in Paraguay
Group blog E'a Periódico de Interpretación y Análisis [es] tells that, according to parcial results of the 2012 Population Census, there are 10% less Guaraní speakers in the country. Among the factors the blog lists [en] for this situation, we find “resistence, voluntary or not, from the political class to...
A Comparison of China's and America's Richest People
Liz Carter from the Tea Leaf Nation translated an info-graphic by CN politics [zh], which compares the character of China's and America's richest people.
Macedonia Fails to Honor Victims of 1911 Terror Campaign
GV Author Filip Stojanovski blogs about Macedonia's failure to properly commemorate the victims of “the so-called ‘Donkey Assassinations'” that took place in the city of Štip in 1911: […] Several months ago, several right-wing political parties including the ruling party running the Government of RM paid respects to the organizer...
Reflections on the Croatian Generals’ Acquittal
Alan Jaksic of Balkan Anarchist posts a follow-up to his initial comments on the Nov. 16 reversal of the convictions of the Croatian generals Ante Gotovina and Mladen Markač: […] So do I still consider last month’s acquittal at the Hague a “disgraceful acquittal”, an “outrage” and an “insult to...
Argentina: Remembering December 19, 2001
From Argentina, blogger Rafael, on Fin del capitalismo ¿salvaje? [The end of the wild? capitalism] remembers some of the events [es] occured on December 19, 2001: On the night of [December] 19, that bastard [former Minister of Economy, Domingo] Cavallo had already resigned, then came the tear gases at the...
China:10 Best Weibo Stories of 2012
The Chinese internet is a fascinating place. Stories break online everyday. Despite the strong censorship, Chinese internet users are able to keep their sense of humor(and the censors at bay) by creating different buzzwords and memes. As the year comes to an end, TeaLeafNation has collected the 10 most funny and...
Kazakhstan to Switch to Latin Script
Following years of intense debates, Kazakhstan is finally set to abandon Cyrillic script in favor of the Latin alphabet by 2025. It appears that the alphabet is still a very divisive issue in the country (see, for example, hundreds of comments under this blog [ru]). Michael Hancock-Parmer writes on Registan.net: I have reservations...
Bauls – Worshiping The Great God In Man
Bauliana posts a list of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) about Bauls, a group of mystic minstrels from Bengal. Although current day Bauls are very small in numbers, their influence in the culture of Bengal is considerable.
Tajiks and Uzbeks Disagree on Birthplace of Poet
The dispute over the birthplace of the Poet Rudaki [whom both Uzbekistan and Tajikistan claim "as one of their own"] is heating up and may soon lead to wine-throwing and fist-fights...
Independent Turkmen Website Hacked
Chronicles of Turkmenistan (www.chrono-tm.org), the website run by Turkmen human rights activists in exile, has been hacked [ru] for the third time this year and remains down. Catherine Fitzpatrick on Different Stans blog suggests that the “way too important” website was hacked by “Turkmen Secret Police”. She also lists alternative social media where the...
Colombia: Where's the Indignation?
Blogger Miguel from Mike's Bogota Blog lists some situations that make people feel indignation and wonders: So, why is it that all kinds of vehicles and industry can poison us, day in and day out, in plain sight, and almost nobody does anything? He also shares pictures and concludes his...
People's Daily: The Internet is Not Outside the Law
On Dec 18, China's state media, People's Daily published a piece titled “The Internet is Not Outside the Law,” which serves as a reminder of government control over internet and social media in China. China Media Project translated the whole piece.
Infographic: Ten Ways of Torture in China's Black Jail
Tencent News recently published an infographic introducing how prisoners have been tortured in the black jail in Chongqing, China. The black jail was set up by Bo Xilai and the controversial infographic triggered many comments from netizens. Offbeat China provides more details with the translation of the inforgraphic.
Increasing Risks of Humanitarian Disaster in Masisi Territory of DR of Congo
Much suggests Masisi territory being the neuralgic point, both in terms of politico-military contest and its humanitarian consequences.Any extension of the M23 conflict farther into Masisi territory contains immense potential of escalation. Christophe Ethuin reports that there is much reason for concerns in Masisi Territory as the conflict with M23...
Hong Kong: Grandma's Wallet
In Hong Kong, many old people are living in poverty despite the fact that the society is very prosperous as a whole. The video taken by Wu Hoi Ching shows how her grandma manages her living by squeezing her daily expenses.
Japan: Signature Campaign Calling for the Release of Anti-Nuclear Scholar
An online signature campaign has been launched to call for the release of Masaki Shimoji, Associate Professor of Economy at Hannan University, who has been arrested by Osaka police on December 9 for his campaign to oppose city plans to incinerate imported earthquake debris contaminated by nuclear leak in Fukishima.
Gujarat Polls 2012 – An Analysis
Offstumped posts an analysis on the recently concluded phase 1 of the assembly elections in the Indian state of Gujarat.
