Stories from 7 February 2007
China: main theme T.V drama
The State Administration of Radio, Film and TV (SARFT) last month announced rules requiring China's major television stations to broadcast only “main theme” television during prime time hours. Ming Dynasty 1566 is one of the main theme. Joel Martinsen from DANWEI translated an interview with the T.V programme director, Zhang...
Budapest: Porn Capital
Pestcentric writes this about Budapest's current image: “Sure, Budapest now holds the dubious distinction of being Europe’s porn capital, (to be addressed at a later time), but its public face doesn’t need to show it.”
Hungary: Euro 2012 Bid
Pestcentric discovers that, due to the recent football scandals in Italy, Hungary (together with Croatia) may have a chance to win the bid to host Euro 2012: “Sure, Hungary has seasonal rioting, but it should be brought to the attention of those voting that there are no public holidays tied...
Hungary: Why Study English
Further Ramblings of a N.Irish Magyar points out that the Hungarian government is suggesting the wrong motivation for studying English: “[…] achieving the rather lofty (and therefore completely unmeasureable) objective of increasing the ‘mobility of upcoming Hungarian generations’ and improving ‘their options on the labor market.’ Think about the logic...
Hungary: Health Care System
Hungarian prime minister recently compared the Hungarian and British health care systems. Further Ramblings of a N.Irish Magyar responded with a mock comparison – and here's the first item: “In Hungary, the patients have to bring their own toilet rolls.”
Hungary: Down With the Barriers
“Since the riots last September, Kossuth ter – the square where parliament is situated – has been closed to the public. […] On Friday, the opposition party thought it would be a good idea to remove the barriers themselves,” writes The Hungary Years. Pestcentric also covers the initiative.
Estonia: Observations
Itching for Eestimaa has moved to live in Estonia: “So we are finally here in our new home of Tartu, Estonia. I've been here many times before, but never to live. In the past my “home” in Estonia was in Tallinn. Now I will get used to living in Tartu,...
Estonia: The Jewish Community
Itching for Eestimaa writes about the history of Estonia's Jews.
Estonia: Ilves on Bronze Soldier
Itching for Eestimaa mentions the Estonian president's position on the Bronze Soldier scandal.
El Salvador: Lost Economist
Ethel from San Salvador is now officially an economist. But where to from here? “I know I wanna make positive changes in my society, in my country, etc, etc, etc, that is why I joined and mostly why I've stayed in AIESEC. My real problem is that I haven't find...
Mexico: Doing Business in Mexico
Ellen Fields of Mexico-in-English recommends the useful cross-cultural business blog, Business South of the Border.
Pakistan: More censorship
After Blogger, it's WordPress.com to be censored in Pakistan. “The heavy hand of the govt. strikes again. First they came for blogspot, but the teeming masses said nothing, and moved on to wordpress.com. Now they’ve come for wordpress – where will they go now? “
Bolivia: Online Documentary
“One musician and a small production crew went to Bolivia hoping to create something that could provide help for the poor of Bolivia In the end, the warm hearts and rich culture of the Bolivian people wound up giving them more then they could ever hope to give in return.”...
Pakistan: Moving the mountains
Shirazi has a post on porters – the people who carry the load up the mountains. “The agile, tireless, hardworking people, primarily from local communities, ferry massive loads of gear on their backs. Like the more familiar Sherpa people of the Himalaya, the Pakistani porters are respected among fraternity of...
India: Brown men smiling
Ready. Shoot. Aim on why brown men can't smile. “While walking in the mall the other day I made another Indian guy completely freeze in his tracks and look at me in disbelief. I didn’t do anything outlandish. I smiled at him. “
Pakistan: New Blogger and Censorship
Moving to the new Blogger platform can make circumventing censorship a little harder. Teeth Maestro has an update. “a few contacts at Google since he has been interacting very closely with them for the past year and a half, probing the option if the blogspot back-end can remain on an...
Press freedom watchdogs slam Maldives
Major international press freedom watchdogs have recently slammed the Maldives for the Indian Ocean country’s bad record in press freedom. Reporters without Borders (RSF) has criticized the Maldives for violations of press freedom in its 2007 annual report. Information Minister, Mohamed Nasheed, who in May 2006 met members of an...
Lebanon: Bush's War
Lebanese blogger Leila Abu Saba links a video of a Kuwaiti singer who makes fun of Bush's war.
Bangladesh: Fun and Islam
A bengali in TO on fun in Islam. “I asked one of my class mates, son of one muezzin, if he had watched the documentary. “We don't have TV.” He replied, “My dad says it's haram. He says the TV is evil.””
Jordan: When It Snows in Amman
It snowed in Amman, Jordan and the snow melted the next day, writes Black Iris. “The morning of a snow fall, when it’s really bad outside and the driving conditions are impossible and the possibility of crashing a car or being run over has never been greater: they pack supermarkets...
Jordan: Children Live in Places You Can Never Imagine
Ad Blog Arabia gives us an insight into a wonderful campaign to provide children with better living conditions.
