Stories from 21 July 2005
Bolivia: Cochabamba Impressions
Ray takes notes on his initial impressions of Cochabamba and gets into Bolivian history.
Guyana: Skyping the Remote Guyanese Interior
Caribbean Free Radio links to a Skype interview with “Guyanese adventurer Duane de Freitas, who lives in the Guyanese interior and uses a satellite internet connection to communicate with the outside world.
Trinidad and Tobago: Hindi Dictionary Updated
Taran Rampersad discusses Hindi in Trinidad and Tobago.
Peru, Chile: Quecha and Mapuche
Roberto Arancibia notes the rise [es] in websites dedicated to indigenous language pointing both at a new Peruvian blog which aims to teach Quecha [es] to Spanish speakers as well as a Chilean site dedicated to explaining Mapuche [es].
Cuba: Blackouts Continue
Mora reports on Babalu Blog that the blackouts are continuing throughout Cuba as the island tries to get back on its feet after a series of hurricanes and tropical storms.
Venezuela: VOA for Latin America
Boz responds with scepticism to a US House approval of specifically focusing Voice of America-like broadcasting at Venezuela, which will soon begin its own hemisphere-wide cable television channel.
El Salvador: End of two party system
Tim's El Salvador Blog discusses the possible end of a two party system in El Salvador as both ARENA and the FMLN lose support.
Nicaragua: Voting Machines and ATM's
Picasso Dreams reports that the same company that makes ATM's in Nicaragua made the electronic voting machines in the last US presidential election. Jokingly she writes, “I found it ironic when it asked me if I wanted a receipt for the transaction, as Diebold executives claimed it was impossible to...
Venezuela: Confusing Terms
Tomas Sancio discusses the manipulation of economic terms in the Venezuelan newspaper, El Nacional. Complete with translations.
Venezuela: From the Left and Right
Venezuela News and Views takes a look at the coverage of Venezuela amongst the most popular liberal and conservative blogs in English. His conclusion: “Venezuela is indeed only a blip on the US public opinion radar and my blog a niche blog as a reader once told me.”
Cambodia: Interview with Lux Mean: Teaching Cambodians in Rural Areas To Blog
Cambodia4Kids has an interview with Lux Mean, the man who's going around Cambodia teaching people how to blog.
Ukraine: The WTO Debate
Orange Ukraine follows the twists and turns of passing the legislation needed for Ukraine to join the WTO.
Zimbabwe: Riot Police hit Churches
This is Zimbabwe is reporting that riot police have forcibily removed homeless who had found housing in churches–most, if not all, of whom were made homeless by “Operation Cleanup”–from their temporary shelter.
Singapore: Xiaxue hacked
Daryl Sng is reporting that popular Singapore blogger Xiaxue has had her blog and email broken into. Mr.Brown notes that another Singaporean blogger also had her blog hacked and recommends that Singapore bloggers change their passwords (he also gives good hints on how to pick a good password).
Russia: US Ambassador's closing remarks
Siberian Light covers the departing remarks of Alexander Vershbow, the outgoing US Ambassador to Russia. He also points to a short profile he did of incoming ambassador.
Pakistan: That Terror Thing IV
Chapati Mystery, a group blog written by overseas Pakistanis, tries to unravel the jihadist agenda.
Nepal: People’s sovereignty and Empowerment
United We Blog! posts an article about the historic development of the rights of the people in Nepal.
Malaysia: Are we staring at RM3.20?
Malaysia lost no time in following China's move to decouple its currency from the US Dollar; Jeff Ooi reports that Bank Negara Malaysia has abandonded the US Dollar peg, replacing it with a managed basket of currencies, effective immediately.
Japan: Atom and Anne
Tokyo Times brings us news of a manga version of the Diary of Anne Frank.
Iraq: Constitution finished early?
Iraq the Model is reporting that work on the proposed Iraqi constitution may be finished by the end of July, and thus won't need to use a proposed 6 month extention.
Bahraini: Food Fight!
Chan’ad Bahraini will be taking a blog-vacation for a couple of weeks, but before he left, he couldn't help but to bring us a photograph of a scuffle that took place on the floor of the Bahraini parliament. Apparently one MP took exception to the statements of another MP and...