5 February 2007

Stories from 5 February 2007

Bolivia: A Cement Obelisk and Frozen Water Balloons

  5 February 2007

Cities and towns were on the mind of a handful of Bolivian bloggers this week. In December of 2006, the city of Cochabamba rolled out the red carpet and played host to a summit for South American presidents. In honor of the occasion, some of the local lawmakers proposed to...

Foreseeing South Africa's Future Hegemony over Africa

  5 February 2007

Togolese origined France-based blogger Kangni Alem comments on a recent series of workshops on collective knowledge and practices in Africa organized by the Africa Centre in Cape Town, South Africa (Fr): “The Africa Centre is a project which foretells the future hegemony of South Africa on the rest of the...

Belize: Taiwan or China?

  5 February 2007

Belizean – The Belize News Blog publishes an article by Godfrey Smith analysing the benefits for Belize of establishing diplomatic ties with China rather than Taiwan.

Haiti: In praise of Barbancourt

  5 February 2007

Robert Miller at Haiti Innovation sings the praises of Haiti's famous Barbancourt rum, and quotes from an article which notes the role of Barbancourt in voodoo rituals.

Jamaica: Happy birthday, John Hearne

  5 February 2007

Geoffrey Philp marks the birthday of Jamaican novelist John Hearne: “He had to tread carefully, I suspect, as a white Jamaican who did not sound Jamaican, in a society that was changing rapidly and in which the privileges, which a generation before a person in his situation would have taken...

Jamaica: Police killings

  5 February 2007

In spite of the fact that five Jamaican policeman have been killed in as many weeks, bassChocolate finds it hard to empathise.

Guadeloupe: Dengue Fever/Chikungunya a Threat

  5 February 2007

Guadeloupe Attitude highlights (Fr) the story of Alexandre, a 6-month old Guadeloupean infant who passed away recently from dengue fever (one of two in the last month) and adds: “Authorities fear a resurgence of the dengue virus, chikungunya version. Transmitted by female mosquitoes, it is not mortal in its primary...

Cuba: No visas for American cyclists

  5 February 2007

Charly Morales Valido reports (ES) on the US government's refusal to grant US cyclists travel permits so they could contest the XXXII Vuelta a Cuba race, which takes place later this month. The 2003 edition of the race was won by American Todd Herriot.

USA, Colombia: “Nothing new for Plan Colombia 2″

  5 February 2007

“About an hour ago, the State Department released the broad outlines of its 2008 aid request. Its so-called “Function 150″ document gives us a rough, but pretty fair, estimate of what the Bush administration is asking Congress to give Colombia next year.” According to Adam Isacson of the Center for...

Argentina: “Recuperated Workplaces”

  5 February 2007

From Global Labor Strategies: “What happens when a group of workers take over their workplace and try to run it without private owners, professional managers, or the government? 10,000 workers in 200 workplaces in Argentina are trying to find out.”

Much ado in Zimbabwe

  5 February 2007

There was much ado in Zimbabwe over the last week. Much ado about nothing, that is. The biggest development in the beleagured nation's news was Gideon Gono, the controversial governor of Zimbabwe's central bank delivered a much anticipated monetary statement last week. Sadly, like everything else in the country, it...

Arabisc: Kuwaiti Looking for an Easy A

  5 February 2007

We may have all met them..at least those of us who have managed to secure straight As at school and university. While some us may shun them from the beginning, Kuwaiti blogger Jandeef couldn't shake this climber off his back that easily. He gives us a hilarious transcript of a...