Stories from 2 June 2006
Indonesia: Quake Relief
Unspun is looking into media and first hand reports and trying to figure out if the Indonesian government is doing a good job in handling the quake crisis.
Malaysia: Chubb Safes in Mosques
why360 explains the purpose of Chubb safes found in many Malaysian mosques.
Singapore: Keep Trading
Han at The Legal Janitor agrees with Singapore prime minister's thoughts on free trade.
Vietnam: Japanese Bridge
Virtual Doug in Vietnam has the story of a popular tourist spot known as “The Japanese Bridge”
Malaysia: Keeping the Police in Check
Malaysian MP Lim Kit Siang is asking both opposition and ruling MPs to join together to implement the establishment of Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC).
Chileans Students Still Stand for their Rights
It is the first time in more than 15 years that public school students have coordinated to make the government hear their petitions. So far they have mobilized more than 150,000 students. How did they make it happen? Using technology. They all have blogs, use messenger, emails, and fotoblogs. These...
Bermuda: Lunch for Democracy protest
Christian Dunleavy checks in on the Lunch for Democracy demonstration which took place today in Bermuda in protest against the government's poor handling of, and failure to pass, a bill to amend the country's Human Rights Act to outlaw discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. He is “pleasantly surprised...
Bahamas: Censorship
“I believe that the time has come to admit that the kind of legislation that permits a body of non-elected, faceless individuals to decide what the Bahamian citizen should be able to see is fundamentally obsolete,” writes Nicolette Bethel in an article questioning the usefulness of the Bahamas Plays and...
Caribbean: Marking the start of the hurricane season
“What is it about us that loves to celebrate everything?” asks Florida-based Jamaican writer Geoffrey Philp, who uploads a podcast of a poem to mark the June 1 start of the hurricane season. Simon T posts a photo of a perfect Cayman Islands sunset at Flickr, giving it the title...
Antigua: Cricket memories
To commemorate the Antigua Recreation Ground's hosting of its final cricket match over the next several days, Ryan at the West Indies Cricket Blog solicits suggestions for readers’ favourite ARG memories: “Was it the 375? Was it 400 not out? Was it Viv’s 56-ball hundred? The entertaining Gravy? That Hooper-Walsh...
Caribbean: Pirate paper
Jon at Posthegemony posts the final section of his conference paper on “Piracy, Nomadism, and the State,” in which he notes that “privateers were particularly a feature of the sixteenth-century Caribbean, when private seamen such as Drake and Hawkins, though viewed as common criminals by the Spanish, in fact did...
Barbados: Best blog day for BLP
On June 1 the Barbados Labour Party was proud to announce that their new blog attracted “150 odd visitors”, making it their “best blog day”. In the same post they revealed their plans for hosting “a live comment session with the Prime Minister in the not too distant future. That...
Trafalgar Falls, Dominica
“The Trafalgar Falls are one of Dominica's main tourist attractions, especially for cruise ship visitors, who were there in abundance the day we went. Still we managed to find a secluded hot pool and then an even more secluded cold pool to soak in for a little while.” writes Barbadian...
Latin America: Poll Numbers
This week's Friday poll numbers by Boz might be the most in-depth yet.
Mexico: Update on San Salvador Atenco
Agus Acosta, a Spanish art professor has uploaded a work of video art titled “Help (Women of Atenco).” Zulma Aguiar links to the testimony of women sexually abused and tortured (ES) during the Atenco riots on May 3rd and 4th. Eduardo Arcos agrees that another Atenco could take place (ES)...
Ecuador: Three Types of Gangs
Muerto de Risa expounds on the three classifications of gangs in Ecuador.
El Salvador: Review of Salvadoran Blogs
Soy Salvadoreño has another review of Salvadoran blogs (ES) to emerge since his first introduction (ES). Judging from the comments, it seems that a real sense of blog community is starting to take root.
Bolivia: Evo and America
Both Jim Shultz and Boli-Nica are doubtful of Evo Morales’ most recent claim that the US is trying to assassinate him, or as Shultz puts it: “I also doubt Pat Robertson has gone freelance.” Alvaro Ruiz-Navajas, however, notes “yet another paradox of Evo's government: The administration has accused the US...
Argentina: Annoyed by Ratzinger's words in Auschwitz
Bilingual Argentine blogger Claudia Mansilla is critical of Pope Benedict XVI's comment about the Holocaust while in Auschwitz.
Ecuador: Postcolonial Economics
In one of the most mysterious English-language blogs on Ecuador I've come across, S. Artesian explains that “the distinction between Sierra and Costa in Ecuador is just this distinction between administration and export; between hacienda and export crop production.”
Russia: Limonov and Copyright
Russia is notorious for its disregard for copyright laws. According to anti-piracy organizations, it is the second-biggest source of pirated software, music and film in the world. China is the first. The discussion translated below (RUS) takes on the issue of piracy in a somewhat ironic vein: Sergei Maximishin (LJ...
