Stories from 18 December 2006
Russia: Oleg Gazmanov's “Born in the USSR”
La Russophobe posts “a multi-media presentation with some insights regarding pop music” – featuring Oleg Gazmanov's song “Made in the USSR”: “[…] The Ryuriks, the Romanovs, Lenin and Stalin/They are my country/Pushkin, Yesinin, Vystotsky, Gagarin/They are my country […]”
Lithuania, Russia: Book on Vilnius Ghetto; Chekhov's Stories
Music and Life – Everywhere! is reading Anton Chekhov's short stories, and also posts a comment on a book about the Vilnius Ghetto.
Colombia: “Same-sex partnership rights? Not so fast…”
Andres Duque offers both a short and long explanation to what is happening and not happening with Colombia's same-sex partnership legislation.
Mexico: Christmas Bonus
Lee Iwan describes Mexico's annual aguinaldo: “This puts added strain on cash flow and accounts payables for Mexican organizations during the month of December. At the same time it creates a huge burst of economic activity throughout the country.”
Guatemala: Flor de Pascua
Chapinadas on the production and exportation of Guatemala's Flor de Pascua or “Easter Flower.”
Colombia: “What I've Learned”
Erwin Cifuentes, who normally blogs prodigiously at The Latin Americanist is now in Colombia and has put together a collection of “the many lessons big and small” he's learned so far. Ricardo Carreón also finds himself in Colombia and recommends an English-language website about the capital city.
Argentina: Buenos Aires Blog Roundup
Alan Patrick spreads the link love with his second Buenos Aires Blog Roundup.
Bolivia: “Sliding down a slippery slope”
Both Miguel Centellas and Jim Shultz document and analyze the increasing tension between pro-autonomy protesters, government supporters, and the military.
Russia: Shpargalki
Lex Libertas compares U.S. and Russian education and writes about cheating and cheatsheets – shpargalki – in the former Soviet Union.
Libya, Bulgaria, U.S.: Tripoli Six Verdict Due Next Tuesday
Declan Butler reports that the U.S. Department of State refuses to give a straight answer on its position regarding “the death penalty trial in Libya of 5 Bulgarian nurses, and a Palestinian doctor, accused of injecting over 400 children with HIV, even though the verdict is expected next Tuesday.” Also,...
Cuba: New Book, “Khrushchev’s Cold War”
A new book has captured Luis M. Garcia's attention: Khrushchev’s Cold War attributes the decision to place nuclear missiles on Cuban soil at the height of the Cold War to do more with the Soviet Union wanting to be taken seriously by the U.S. and less to do with Khrushchev...
Jamaica: Kingston on Malaria Alert
“Everybody who knows me, know that mosquitoes don't bite me,” says Kara – until now – just when Jamaica's capital city is facing a Malaria outbreak.
Bangladesh: Remembering genocide and celebrating victory day
Some days are very special for a nation. 16th December is one such day for Bangladesh. Drishtipat Blog remembers the independence of Bangladesh 35 years ago. Time magazine December 20, 1971 named it “the bloody birth of Bangladesh“. For those who do not know why it is called so, Mash...
St. Vincent & the Grenadines: Stacy Wilson
In the wake of 21-year-old Stacy Wilson's gruesome murder, Abeni is both angered and saddened: “We are a nation reeling in horror with too many of us having seen the unimaginable. It just cannot be business as usual with our collective psyche so badly damaged. We need to unite, share...
Barbados: BLP and Stem Cell Clinic?
The Barbados Labour Party may or may not have received donations from the Institute of Reproductive Medicine – a clinic “embroiled in what appear to be credible accusations that its stem cell supply chain involves kidnapping and murdering healthy newborn infants in Ukraine”. Barbados Free Press wants full disclosure.
Bahamas: Bicentenary of Abolition of Slave Trade
Why should the 2007 bicentenary of the abolition of the slave trade by Great Britain be commemorated? According to Nicolette Bethel, “the short answer is that it marks the beginning of a process of emancipation that involved all parties — the slaveowners as well as the slaves. The long answer...
The Saudis are Still Talking
In this week's roundup: Human Rights Watch's recent visit to Saudi Arabia, a recent poll showing Saudi Arabia to be the fifth least corrupt country in the world, Turki Al-Faisal's resignation from being Saudi Arabia's ambassador to the United States, and much more. Rasheed has done a great job covering...
Sudan: should South Sudan separate?
Black Cush writes about the case for South Sudan to form a separate state, “South Sudan has the most untapped resource, in both human and natural. The vast oil reserves in the South could give its economy might that can rival South Africa in growth. There are also other minerals...
South Africa: great year for Mail & Guardian Online
Mathew Buckland writes about the success story of the South Africa's Mail and Guardian Online, “It’s also been fantastic to see the revenues of the site grow to where we were a profitable division last year for the first time in our 11-year history — and it looks like this...