Stories from 31 May 2006
User-built dictionary of English idioms
Jamaican Simone Champagnie links to What does That Mean, “a free, user-built dictionary of English idioms, buzzwords, and catch phrases from around the world”. The site includes entries from North America, the British Commonwealth, Italy, Japan and South Korea.
Cameroon: Schedule of Baccalaureate Exams
Fojrega posts (Fr) the nationalschedule of baccalaureate exams in Cameroon.
Bermuda: Parliamentary alibis
The Limey cites several examples of equivocation on the part of Bermuda's MP's over their failure to debate an important amendment to the Human Rights Act last week, and reports that a rally is being organised to protest the lack of debate among the MPs. Christian Dunleavy reproduces on his...
Caribbean: Lists
On his freshly launched blog, Jamaican novelist Marlon James weighs in on the New York Times “Top Twenty-Five American Books”. Barbadian blogger Titilayo singles out a few notables from TIME magazine's “list of “100 men and women whose power, talent or moral example is transforming our world”.
Canada: A legal on illegals
Jdid, a Barbadian immigrant living in Toronto, has very mixed feelings about the protests against the deportation of illegals which took place recently in Canada. “I feel badly for someone who built up a life here and then had it cruelly plucked from beneath them but at the same time...
Barbados: Labour party blogging
Barbados's incumbent Barbados Labour Party seems to have taken to blogging like a fish to water — at least for now. Four posts in the last four days, on topics such as why the “two major media organizations” in the UK and the USA contacted blog Barbados Free Press for...
Bahamas: Development proposal
Residents of a small community in the Bahamas vote against a proposal which would have helped “preserve the character of local communities”. Larry Smith says the proposal's “scope, bureaucratic complexity and level of detail” may be to blame, “and, of course, we should not overlook the ever-present influence of party...
The Week That Was – Bolivian Blogs
Bolivians have long resigned themselves to the fact that their football national team will also be home watching the upcoming World Cup on television. For the third straight tourney, Bolivia has failed to qualify for the world’s most important sporting event and have left this tiny nation saying, “maybe in...
Mongolia: Defining Corruption
Luke Distelhorst writes that Mongolia's parliament had quite a hard time making any progress on their anti-corruption bill as they got bogged down in trying to define corruption.
Afghanistan: Riots
Sohrab Kabuli writes about the bloody riots in response to a road accident involving US military forces and includes some first-hand reporting.
Armenia: Montenegro Precedent
Onnik Krikorian asks whether or not Montenegro's vote for independence is a precedent for Nagorno-Karabakh.
Kyrgyzstan: The Meeting Happened!
Edil Baisalov, a Kyrgyz opposition leader, takes issue with negative coverage of last weekend's protest in Bishkek (Russian) that characterized the event as a failure that took the wind out of the opposition's sails. In his opinion, that the protest took place makes it a success.
Kyrgyzstan: Protest
CXW of neweurasia has a report on last weekend's protest in Bishkek calling for the government to enact reforms and combat corruption.
Sri Lanka: The conflict and the death of a loved one
The death of a friend's father is a shocking reminder of the fragility of life in Sri Lanka for Indi. “The people dying aren’t youthful revolutionaries or radicals, these are just normal people. They have families and responsibilities and hundreds of people that depend on them in countless ways.” An...
Sri Lanka, India: The other side of LTTE
Kiruba on the other side of LTTE – “Back then, they were the good guys. The village folks were sympathetic towards their struggle and generally gave them good support. They were mainly looking for shelter and food and there was never a shortage of that in the village.”
Pakistan: Dipalpur and history
Shirazi on a town that has held the fort and been a passage of sorts. “Dipalpur is famous in the history as an outpost that has played a significant part in the defence of Delhi kingdom against Mongol invasions in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries.”
Nepal: Hinduism and the Throne
Samudaya.org comments on the close relationship of the throne and Hinduism. “The Shah Kings in Nepal have exploited Hinduism for more than 236 years. Since the majority of the population is Hindu, as a god of 80% of the citizens, the throne was unchallengeable.”
China: Don't learn Chinese for business opps, learn it for this book
For unavoidable reasons known to all, or at least presumed, Lifeweek editor Wang Xiaofeng, one of China's most entertaining bloggers—known to many for a hoax [#026] pulled in March this year which brought many bloggers’ scorn—mysteriously killed off his widely-read Massage Milk (also known as Wears Three Watches) in early...
Nepal: Writing on the wall
Blogdai has some serious words of advice. “Get rid of these old reprobate politicians and sweep aside your romanticizing, stone-throwing children, Nepal, and let's get busy with saving the country before these fools plunge us into civil war.”
Hong Kong: Central harbourfront developmental plan
The Hong Kong government announced the developmental plan in the Central harbourfront early this week. Miss Lee in Summer wondered whether the plan is for the interest of developer or Hong Kong people (zh).
China: Down with reactionary blogger
This year is the 40th anniversary of the Chinese Cultural Revolution. Ah Q weekly used an old propaganda poster from Cultural Revolution to make sarcastic remarks on the recent “management” of blogsphere. The original poster depicts a worker using Mao's tiny red book to hit the reactionary class. The new...
