Stories from 7 March 2006
This week in Israel: elections in three weeks? (yawn)
So here we are, three weeks before national elections – and nobody in the Israeli blogosphere has anything to say. This, despite all the upheavals of the past few months: The surprise election of Amir Peretz, the former leader of Histadrut, Israel's largest labour union, as leader of the Labour...
China: Death sentence for serial killer
SimonWorld reflects on China's love affair with the death penalty, in the wake of the arrest by police in the northeastern city of Jiamusi of a man suspected of sexually abusing and murdering more than 20 children.
Japan: Printing a blog post
Joi Ito calls on anyone who may have commented on his April 2005 blog post about anti-Japanese sentiment in China to let him know if they don't want their comments printed as part of plans to publish the post. He is concerned that some commentators may be unaware that his...
Japan: Anti-war protest
OhmyNews! asks whether three men arrested for posting anti-war fliers can seriously be considered enemies of the State, saying that Japanese democracy took a “large step backwards” with their arrest.
China: The joys of journalism
“It's a fine thing that China doesn't have a fully functioning Western-style democracy,” wails AsiaPundit. “Under China's current system, parliament only meets 10 days a year. If it were any longer than that it would be even more unbearable. Today was day three, and AsiaPundit is practically ready to retire.”...
China: Innovation through intimidation
Liu Yong at China Digital Times takes a look at an article on recent defamation suits filed in China, entitled “Innovation Through Intimidation: An Empirical Account of Defamation Litigation in China”.
Barbados: Brokeback in Barbados
Titlayo notes the response of the Barbadian public to Brokeback Mountain, and goes to see it herself.
Barbados: Racism dialogue
Barbados Free Press continues its discussion of racism in Barbados by noting the Prime Minister's use of the word “negrocrat”.
Hong Kong: Sharing His Word-Hoard
While looking forward to the 2006 Hong Kong Literary Festival, Glutter bemoans the expense and elite concentration of this year's glittering attractions, which include the poet Seamus Heaney.
China: Banking scandal
Danwei is encouraged to note that a story of shenanigans at the Bank of China in the northeastern province of Heilongjiang makes the cover of respected investigative business magazine Caijing in the same week as the annual National People's Congress.
Guyana: Teen bloggers
Scott points to a project started by a Guyana-based Peace Corps volunteer that teaches young people how to write using a blog as the teaching tool. The young people's blog is called Guyana Teenagers of Today, and so far they have tackled issues such as the drug trade, sexual assault...
Caribbean: Indigenous languages
The CAC Review links to an excellent web site on indigenous languages of the Caribbean which features vocabulary lists, sound files and some grammar instruction. Among the languages represented are Arawak, Galibi, Taino, Karifuna, Garifuna and Warao.
DRC: Moroccan visitors
Blogging from the Democratic Republic of Congo Kim Gjerstad in Congo posts on the arrival of King Mohammed VI of Morocco to the DRC bringing with him some gifts!
Zimbabwe: Gender violence
Zimbabwean blogger, Fire Pussy points to a book by IRIN on gender violence “Broken Bodies, Broken Dreams: Violence against women exposed. Some horrendous statisticw – “On average five Indian women a day are killed in “accidental” kitchen fires because dowry payments have not been met. 25% of girls and 8%...
Iran: Virginity Matters!
Hooghoghdan (means Jurist), an Iran based blogger, talks about how much virginity of girls is important for Iranian men including so called intellectuals (Persian). She said the moment that her male friends discover she is not any more virgin, they want to find an empty room to sleep with her!...
Kenya: Raid on media
Kenyan Pundit publishes the articles that led to the Kenyan government's raid on the Standard Media group last week in Nairobi.
South Africa: Zuma trial
Yebo Gogo comments on the trial of Jacob Zuma in South Africa. Zuma is accused of rape.
Kenya: Non response of the government to media raid
Thinkers Room comments on the response by Kenyan government minister to the raid on the Standard media group last week. “The response from cabinet ministers continues to be disjointed, confused and verging on the ridiculous.”
Ethiopia: hurdles to a free society
One Ethiopia writes a piece on the hurdles to transistion towards a free society.
Sudan: Archbishop silent on Darfur
Passion of the Present as points to an article in the UK Observer which questions why the Archbishop of Canterbury failed to mention the “arson rape massacres” taking place in Darfur
