Stories from 8 August 2007
Syria: Dead Cities
Hovic takes us on a photo tour in Surkania, one of the Dead Cities in the Syrian desert between Damascus, Aleppo and Hama.
Brazil: The philosopher, the media, and the blogs
The influence of the Internet in Brazil is gathering momentum. In a country where open TV networks owned by politicians widely ruled the media environment for the last 30 years, some new polls on web access are revealing pronounced leaps in the number of Internet users. From the raw number...
Afghanistan: Hazaras
Is the success of the Hazara community in Afghanistan due to the international community “building it up” or actually due to the group's adaptability to change? Ronin has some thoughts.
Armenia: World Bank and Corruption
Onnik Krikorian still has not heard back from the Armenian office of the World Bank concerning the allegations of corruption brought against the institution by a British national.
Japan: Death Penalty Killings
The Asia Death Penalty blog has a post about an appeal from Amnesty International to stop the death penalty killings of three men in Japan scheduled for tomorrow (August 9th). As mentioned in the post, there are suspicions that the timing of the killings was scheduled to line up with...
Armenia: Dance concert
The Armenian Patchwork posts Vahan Stepanyan's breathtaking photos of a recent dance concert taking place in Yerevan.
Kyrgyzstan: Korean missionaries
In the light of the current hostage crisis in Afghanistan, Azamat writes that Korean missionaries are also actively proselytising in Kyrgyzstan.
Tajikistan: Rising prices
Vadim looks at possible reasons behind the recent price hikes for basic foodstuff. In the comments Tajik Boy says that the problem might be due to macroeconomic imbalances.
Kazakhstan: Journalists are popular traffic victims
Bonnie Boyd adds another name to the sad list of journalists getting killed in traffic accidents in Kazakhstan.
Kyrgyzstan: LJ blogosphere
Mirsulzhan Namazaliev offers a glimpse into the Kyrgyz Russian-speaking Livejournal scene: The buzz is about the upcoming Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Bishkek and a former Primer Minister's fall in popularity.
Afghanistan: Security contractors
Sanjar is unhappy about the amount of money spent on security contractors protecting foreign NGO staff in Afghanistan.
Trinidad & Tobago: Copping Out?
“Not only did he…utter this racial diatribe about people from Lavantille moving into Central Trinidad, people from the COP appear to be not too bothered by it.” Manicou shares his thoughts about Trinidad and Tobago's latest political faux pas.
Trinidad & Tobago: Technology Trap?
KnowProSE.com has many questions about the impact of technology on our lives, but says, “one thing should be readily apparent. We can only do one thing at a time.”
Jamaica: Rastafari
Jamaican Geoffrey Philp credits the influence of Rastafari and Reggae in his development as a writer and is interested to see “how the temporal and geographical isolation of Rastafari as a memeplex will manifest itself in the upcoming years.”
Cayman Islands: Eau de Toilette
Mighty Afroditee has some amusing thoughts on bathroom ettiquette.
Jamaica: 45 Years Later…
Jamaica has just celebrated 45 years of independence. Dennis Jones reflects on the nation's progress.
Amid Controversy, YouTube Launches in Japan
Late last week, Google announced that it was teaming up with six Japanese firms, including SkyPerfecTV and Mixi, creator of Japan’s most popular social networking software, to link content to a new YouTube website exclusively in Japanese in order to boost the company’s presence in Japan. A blogger who was at the meeting where the announcement was made describes his thoughts on the future of YouTube in Japan.
Belarus to increase its control of the Internet
President Alexandre Lukashenko is planning to increase the control of the Internet. “If we read what is posted there, we will see that it serves as a platform not only for the opposition, but for voices and nations that are hostile to us,” Lukashenko said, urging his government to “put...
China: Library Project
Dawei from China Dreamblogue has given us an update on the library project. The latest development is building a partnership with Aston English School.
China: Google and Baidu Spoof War
William Long posted some spoofing videos produced by Google and Baidu, in which, Google called Baidu “hundred poisons” and Baidu mocked google as a foreign / alien company (zh). Spoof has become a popular genre for advertisement in China.
China: Silent Working Class in Shenzhen
Maryannodonnell writes a reflective piece on the historical forms of silencing or glossing over the question of working class politics in Shenzhen.
