Stories from 22 February 2007
Brunei: Introducing Brunei Blog Directory
World of Pablo is congratulating the builders of Blogging Nation, a new blog directory for Brunei bloggers.
Singapore: Talking to a Mainland Chinese
Diana, a Singaporean meets a person from mainland China on a boat journey in Cambodia and talks about the lives of an overseas Chinese and a mainland Chinese. “Her generation is debating these issues and trying to understand what it means to be Chinese. I told her it’s the same...
Israel: Equality at Western Wall?
Israeli blogger Rahel literally shows us where women stand at free bar mitzvah services at the Western Wall, offered by the Western Wall Heritage Foundation, here. “The Western Wall Heritage Foundation offers free bar mitzvah services at the Western Wall. Nice of them. What do they offer to girls who...
Israel: Who's Next?
Today it is Abdel Karim – tomorrow it could be you!, warns Israeli blogger SnoopyTheGoon. “This is another case when an oppressive regime takes a petty revenge on a blogger. This is another case when all bloggers, no matter of what race, age, gender or political affiliation must spread the...
Israel: A Predictable Misunderstanding
Israeli Blogger, from Thoughts from Israel, describes the latest escalation between the Arabs and Israelis over Al Aqsa as a “predictable misunderstanding.” “And so, once again, a stupid and inconsiderate action of some office in the Israeli government is perceived by Arabs as warmongering, thereby causing Arab panic and violence,...
Israel: Dimona Virtual Tour
Israeli blog One Jerusalem gives us a virtual tour of Israel's nuclear plant in Dimona here.
Russia: Sakhalin Photos and Interview
Tim Newman of White Sun of the Desert posts photos of winter in South Sakhalin – and gets interviewed by Siberian Light.
Russia: Reactions to LaRussophobe's Interview
Siberian Light‘s interview with La Russophobe turned out to be quite a hit: read the heated discussion in the comments section as well as a note from Andy on why he decided to do this interview.
Russia: New Registration Law
Sean's Russia Blog posts a transcript of the briefing by a high-ranking Russian migration service official: “As I’ve already indicated, the adoption and enforcement of the January 15 migration law has caused confusion among administrators, police, officials, and foreigners alike. Nothing points to this confusion more than the following transcript...
Russia: Vladimir Vladimirovich™ Translated
Scraps of Moscow translates three episodes of Vladimir Vladimirovich™ that “deal with last week's promotions of Sergei Ivanov and Ramzan Kadyrov.” Also, see photos of the Soviet-time soda machines taken in Moldova and Uzbekistan.
Eastern Europe: Dubious Architecture
Copydude – and Vilhelm Konnander, in a comment – discuss the House of Soviets in Kaliningrad, Russia, the Resurrection Church in Kaunas, Lithuania, and Konstantinov’s Central Post Office in Skopje, Macedonia, as well as a few other “dubious” architectural monuments.
Thailand: Actress to do Community Service for her Sexy Dress
Arloo has a post on a Bangkok based student and actress who was asked by her university to do community service for 15 days after she appeared in Thai film awards ceremony in a “sexy” dress.
Russia: Ivan Ushkov's Case
Ivan Ushkov, a St. Petersburg artist, had his computer and some of his work confiscated by the police; officers threatened to shut down his photo business located on Nevsky Prospekt. Both the Russian blogosphere and the media are abuzz about this ongoing controversy. Ushkov's work can be viewed here; English...
Haiti: Reinforcing Judicial Independence
At Ailleurs Vu d'Ici, Roody Edmé cites (Fr) a recent International Crisis Group report on the Haitian judicial system as “underlining the weakness of our judicial culture when it comes to judges’ ethics and responsibility” and adds: “Legislative proposals are being announced in the Haitian Parliament that seek … to...
Malaysia: University Dean Keeping Tabs on Students Attire
Education in Malaysia writes about the dean from the business faculty of a top Malaysian public university who goes around looking for female students in improper attire.
Ukraine: Fashion
Olechko makes this observation on the way Ukrainian women dress: “Kyiv fashion may either scare to death or wildly inspire newcomers.”
Ukraine: Carpathian Photos
Olechko posts pictures from the beautiful Carpathian Mountains.
Malaysia: Egyptian Blogger Jailed
Ok-Lah in Malaysia comments on the jailing of an Egyptian blogger.
Ukraine: Corruption (Cont'd)
A week ago, there were about 200 comments on Yuri Zushchik's post on corruption at the National Bank of Ukraine (including an irrelevant but lively discussion of IKEA – which is yet to open in Kyiv, by the way). Today, there are 320 comments, and the following exchange (RUS, UKR)...
Iran: War and Human Rights Concerns
Concerns about a war between Iran and the US are growing in the Iranian blogosphere by the day. While Iran refuses to halt its uranium enrichment programme, despite the United Nation's resolution 1737, it is also being accused by the US of sending bombs to Iraq. Iran considers the enrichment...
Trinidad & Tobago: Moko jumbies
Stefan Falke posts some spectacular photos of the moko jumbies–or stilt-walkers–of the Dragon Keylemanjahro School of Arts & Culture's presentation for this year's Carnival in Trinidad and Tobago.