Stories from 17 July 2006
Big six-O, Brunei in July
15th July, 2006 marks the Sultan of Brunei's 60th birthday. Let the celebrations begin! Nonnie has a post in her blog, Spiritual Garden about Bandar Seri Begawan, the Brunei's capital in celebration mode.
China: Blogsphere
Lyn Jeffery in Virtual China reports on China Market research's finding in Chinese blogsphere: “CMR estimates that 80% of Chinese online urban youth 18-25 (50 million people) are actively blogging OR participating in BBS. “
China: cruel news
Zhao mu puts together a bunch of descriptions used by some mainstream newspapers reports to show the indifference and cruelity of news language (zh). For example, to describe the suicidal act of desperate worker with the term “highrise jumping show”, to describe car accident hitting the victim's head as “winning...
China: tell me what's wrong with China
Last week Danwei‘s Joel Martinsen translated an article from the New Century Weekly by Sun Yafei titled America through Chinese eyes – a columnist living abroad reports on ugly Americans. The post has attracted many comments, including Sun Yafei's own. Jeremy Goldkorn in Danwei puts Sun's invitation for debate, tell...
China: AIDS orphans
Zhen Jin yan writes about how AIDS orphans (whose parents were diseased by AIDS) in China were rejected by social institutes, such as hospital and orphanage (zh), even though the government's has officially annouced to give special care to these orphans.
China: death of a mother
ESWN translates a forum post on a new mother leapt to her death 15 days after delivering a baby girl.
Guyana: Migration and family
Guyana-Gyal contemplates migration and familly ties: “Them countries that got the best of my family…them countries just don't know how they lucky.”
Uzbekistan: Happy Planet
Ben Paarmann reports on Uzbekistan's fairly high rank on the Happy Planet Index. He notes that Uzbekistan's score (as well as those of neighboring Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan) are not a result of government policies though.
Kyrgyzstan: Week in Blogs
Yulia rounds up the week in the Russian-language section of the Kyrgyz blogosphere.
Uzbekistan: Civil Society
Olesya translates a post about NGOs in Uzbekistan in which the author argues that the country's NGOs should not be surprised to find themselves in their current situation because of mistakes they made in the past that have weakened them relative to the government.
Azerbaijan: Heydar
Denise writes about the omnipresence of Heydar Aliev, the former president of Azerbaijan whose name and image can be found all over the place.
Monglia: Circus
Tom Terry files a report from the circus in Mongolia complete with photos.
Haiti: Grateful to Wyclef for his World Cup Performance
Collectif Haiti de Provence points to a Le Nouvelliste article thanking (Fr) Haitian-American hip hop star Wyclef for his representation of Haiti at the World Cup closing ceremony: “Wyclef Jean did everything to associate Haiti to his performance. The Haitian flag served as a bandana that covered his head (…)...
Panama: El Día del Niño
Don Ray took pictures of a pony ride in front of a supermarket in David, Panama which was set up for El Día del Niño or “Children's Day.”
Nicaragua: Herty Lewites and the American Left
Marc Cooper, lamenting the lack of coverage on the death of Nicaraguan political veteran and presidential candidate Herty Lewites, starts a heated discussion on the American left's general lack of interest in the country. Russel takes Marc's challenge and offers six links about Nicaragua in the “lefty press” from the...
Mexico: Election Inspires Online Creativity
Boli-Nica once again measure the online support behind Lopez Obrador and Calderon and includes a hilarious parody Barney parody.
Mexico: “Mexico Deserves Better”
Ricardo Carreón gives a historical view of Mexico's electoral process and explains why the country deserves better. León Felipe Sánchez, noting the surge in demand for a full recount, worries that the peaceful civil resistance could soon turn violent (ES). Finally, Wave Making makes some interesting Mexican Reflexions from Abroad:...
Ivoirians in Paris: Church Anniversary
Voyage en Cote d'Ivoire posts (Fr) festive pictures of the anniversary of Paris’ Ivoirian church.
Nepal: Democracy in Crisis
Samudaya.org covers Arundhati Roy speaking on democracy. “Asking what was the right thing to do in a democracy, in which an armed dissent is crushed by military power and unarmed dissent simply ridiculed and brushed aside, Roy confessed her depleting faith in democracy itself.”
Bangladesh: Spirituality Roundup
Sadiq Alam roundsup spiritual blogging from around the world.
Bangladesh: Freedom fighters in business
imperfect world 2006 on doing business with a freedom fighter. “Basically he was saying that a freedom fighter loves his country and would therefore never defraud or cheat anyone. A kind of shorthand for declaring one’s personal integrity.”
