23 December 2005

Stories from 23 December 2005

Philippines: Filipino Intimacies in Saudi Arabia

  23 December 2005

Saudi Arabia has long been a major destination for Filipinos seeking work. The PCIJ blog hosts a podcast from a journalist who lived there for three years, on how they deal with their loneliness and isolation there.

Japan: Gaudy Game Paddles

  23 December 2005

Japanduit has colorful photographs of hagoita, wooden paddles used in a traditional Japanese game much like badminton that is played around New Year's. The paddles are adorned with Kabuki images, cartoon characters and representations of celebrities.

China: Scrubbed News Digest

  23 December 2005

danwei prints a post by a publishing consultant in Shenzhen on Cankao Xiaoxi, a Chinese-language digest of articles from world press formerly restricted to the Communist party elite but now available to the public. “But there are three areas in which Cankao Xiaoxi takes liberties,” he writes. “It runs its...

China: Patients’ Fate

  23 December 2005

In 2004, China's President Hu Jintao shook the hands of two AIDS patients in a hospital. The resulting exposure changed their lives, and not for the better. EastSouthWestNorth translates a story from China Youth Daily.

Indonesia: Aceh Blog

  23 December 2005

I'm Your Huckleberry is a blog in English and Indonesian by a native of Indonesia's rebellious province of Aceh. He's working there for the U.N.D.P. and writes, in one post, “If this success, we can do more for this region, my home land, home of the rebel. Hopefully!”

Uruguay: Montevideo; Barbie

  23 December 2005

Acá Fede gives a photographic tour of Montevideo. Todos Puteros, responding to a recent study which found that British girls “abuse” their barbies, sarcastically says (ES) that Mattel still has new markets to explore.

Venezuela: Feliz Chavidad

  23 December 2005

Taking a break from the political dialogue (well, almost), Miguel Octavio (recent winner of best Latino, Caribbean, or South American weblog), Daniel Duquenal, and Oil Wars all wish their readers a very happy holiday season.

Iran: No More Beethoven?

  23 December 2005

In Free Thoughts, a collective Iranian blog, we read The President of Iran Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has decided to ban all Western music from his nation’s state radio and TV stations. According to TCS daily, Newspaper columnists attacked Ali Rahbari,who was the conductor of Tehran’s symphony orchestra and chose to perform...