Stories from 24 May 2006
The Week That Was – Bolivian Blogs
Este artículo también está disponible en español en el sitio Blogs de Bolivia. Much of Bolivia’s most fertile land lies in the eastern part or Orient of the country. Without a doubt, most of the economic growth has centered around this part of the country, especially in the agricultural sector...
Yerevan: Destroying the Past
Christian Garbis continues his reporting on the destruction of Yerevan's pre-Soviet buildings to make way for new construction.
Kazakhstan: A Kazakh-American Hero
News From The Caravan writes about a Kazakh-American hero who saved the lives of two young boys in a small American town in the 1950s. The story is certainly a must-read if for nothing else but the image of a 60 year old Kazakh woman charging through a crowd on...
Tajikistan: Dushanbe Transport
Elizabeth explains the role of the marshrutka (route taxi) in Dushanbe's public transportation and reports on tremendously bad legislation that puts the vehicles at risk.
Bolivia: Morales Wants the Possibility of Reelection
Miguel Centallas, Briegel Busch, and Alvaro Ruiz-Navajas are all concerned by the announcement that Evo Morales will seek a new constitution that allows for reelection of the president and vice-president. Centallas reminds readers that “historically, other Latin American executives have used constitutional changes to stay in power beyond their original...
Kyrgyzstan: Rumor Mill
Amira has a report on what's being said in the Kyrgyz political rumor mill.
Mongolia: Ivanhoe Press Conference
Luke Distelhorst reports on a press conference held by Ivanhoe Mines about its operations in Mongolia, which are the subject of controversy at the moment.
Honduras: Blog of Juan Almendares
Dr Juan Almendares Bonilla, executive director of the Centre for the Prevention, Rehabilitation and Treatment of Victims of Torture in Honduras now has his own weblog [ES]. Several months ago, Bolivia-based blogger Jim Shultz described “serious threats being launched against” Almendares.
Colombia: “Friendly fire or foul play?”
Adam Isacson has a thorough review of the controversial incident on Monday, which has been officially described as “friendly fire” and mistaken identity between units of Colombia's army and police.
Chile: Demanding Better Cell Phone Service
Following a campaign for universal broadband internet access, the web community Atina Chile is now demanding better cell phone service from Chilean service providers.
Chile: New RSS Aggregator
Rsschile.com is a new aggregator of all things Chilean. There is also an English-language section.
Argentina: More on Borges
The 20th anniversary of the death of Jorge Luis Borges continues to leave its mark in Argentina-based weblogs. Roberto Bobrow cites an allusion made to Borges by Italian intellectual Umberto Eco. Jeff Barry, meanwhile, is already on day five of an ambitious series called “30 Days with Borges.” It seems...
Peru: Debate, Human Rights, and Food
Alvaro Ruiz-Navajas has a helpful collection of links about last weekend's presidential debate. Jorge Bazo Escudero writes [ES] that Amnesty International “has condemned the blatant ignorance of both presidential candidates with respect to human rights issues.” And, away from politics, Peru Food has fresh content with a translation of an...
Kurdistance: What's Montenegro Got to Do With It?
And yes, there was the Tina Turner song “What's love got to do with it?” floating in my head in the background when I wrote that title. While the world watched the vote creating an independent Montenegro, the Kurds were watching the same events with mixed feelings. Hiwa from Hiwa...
Ukraine: President's Son Misbehaving Again
Andriy Yushchenko, president Yushchenko's son, seems to be making trouble again: this time, he, allegedly, almost caused a car crash, verbally abused a high-ranking law enforcement official and didn't prevent his bodyguard from shooting the man in the leg with a rubber bullet. LEvko of Foreign Notes reports on this...
Russia: Translating Joseph Brodsky
David McDuff of A Step At A Time has posted an interview with himself, in which he talks about what it was like to work with Joseph Brodsky on his poetry and prose translations: “I think it needs to be remembered that for Joseph the process of translating his own...
Russia: Krasnodar Encounters
Brigid of Laughter in the Dark writes about the well-meaning but racist director of Krasnodar’s archive; a Krasnodar woman whose dream is to move to the United States; and a Kuban State University historian who would really love to have a map of the world made in the United States....
Ukraine: Village Life Videos
Ukrainian-American blogger Stefan of Dykun now has a vlog, but he'll be cross-posting Ukraine-related entries to his blog. The first two videos – both shot in Sept. 2005 – have to do with West Ukrainian farming and village life: an old woman feeding fowl in Ternopil region and villagers gathering...
Russia: Pensioners Get Young TV Stars Drafted
Yuri Mamchur of Russia Blog writes that four participants of a Russian reality show might get drafted because of a letter to the Russian minister of defense from a group of angry elderly women: “Mrs. Vrubel has a 17 year old grandson who is due for his mandatory army service...
Russia: A River “Walk”
Raffi Aftandelian of maaskva: nashimi glazami took a “river tram” down the Moskva River, part of the Moscow Cultural Walks initiative, and wrote about it both in English and in Russian: “The boat was just spilling with interesting people. I met a post-production sound man, psychologists, journalists, some delightfully out-there...
Russia, Ukraine: Misspelled Name & Border-Crossing
Stephan of Everybody I Love You writes about his “extreme Russia” adventure: dacha, banya – and problems at the Russian-Ukrainian border caused by a misspelled name on his Russian entry visa.