Stories from 27 November 2007
Russia: Saami Parliament
Russia's Saami “want to set up their own parliament to control the dispersal of government funds allocated to their numerically small nationality,” Window on Eurasia reports.
Russia: Muslims on the Web
Window on Eurasia writes about Russia's Muslims’ internet presence.
Russia: Kasparov's Hunger Strike
Garry Kasparov is in jail and on “forced hunger strike” – and Robert Amsterdam believes that the ongoing crackdown on the opposition “reveals tremendous insecurities related to an unsustainable state model.”
Russia: The Marines
De Rebus Antiquis Et Novis writes about the history of the marines in Russia.
Poland: Kapuściński's Translators
Our Man in Gdansk writes about a collection of stories by translators of Ryszard Kapuściński: “It was to have been birthday present, but Kapuściński died before it appeared. The contributions vary widely in subject matter, some not referring at all to translation making it less than essential reading for the...
Poland: Police Jokes
The beatroot and his readers share favorite jokes about Polish cops.
Poland: Satire and Chastity
The beatroot writes about the recent Spanish royalty cartoon scandal and the Polish google bomber's case – as well as the church's initiative to make “chastity trendy” in Poland.
Poland: Public Media Funding
The beatroot writes about sources of funding for Poland's public media.
Poland: Tusk's Long Speech
The beatroot reports on the recent “policy statement” speech by Poland's new prime minister: “Tusk drones on for three hours […] Meanwhile Kaczynski, Gosiewski and Dorn lose consciousness, as did most of Poland. It was agony. Like listening to paint dry.”
Croatia: Some More on Election Results
Bosnia Vault reviews the results of the election in Croatia.
The Balkans: A Dialect of Serbo-Croatian
Balkan Anarchist writes at length about an East Herzegovinian dialect of the Serbo-Croat language: “Although the Serbo-Croatian language is not particularly under threat – well, the language isn't, but the use of the name “Serbo-Croat”, it must be admitted, has significantly dropped ever since the break up of Yugoslavia –...
India: Protests in Malaysia
Blowin’ In The Wind on protests by people of Indian origin in Malaysia.
India: Islamic Volleyball, anyone?
Wonderful post and pictures on “Islamic Volleyball” in the vicinity of Hazrat Nizamuddin's Dargah in Delhi at Indian Muslims.
India: On Mommy Blogs and Privacy
Shallow Thoughts To Profound Insights writes about mommy blogs that probably invade the privacy of children, despite best intentions.
Nepal: Political Posturing and Peace
Nepal Monitor on the political situation in the country one year after the peace accord.
Bangladesh: Assessing relief efforts
an ordinary citizen assesses the relief and rescue situation after the cyclone.
Kuwait: Trips, Travel and More
Kuwaiti blogger continue to blog about their activities, within and outside their country. Abdullatif AlOmar keeps us up-to-date with their adventures.
Georgia: Campaign Begins
Following on from a state of emergency declared earlier in the month, Resistance Georgia reports that the campaign for a snap presidential election in earlier January has already started. However, the anti-Saakashvili blog says that the signs are not good for a free and fair election.
Armenia: Labor Dynamics
Social Science in the Caucasus comments on a World Bank report on labor dynamics in Armenia. The blog of the Caucasus Resource Research Center says that its findings revealing that up to a third of Armenian youth neither work nor study are in line with its own.
Syria: A Protest Against Censorship
To crown the two months of rapid internet censorship, last week the Syrian government decided to block Facebook (The popular social network site) and Shabablek, a very popular local forum for young people, among other websites. Now, cyberactivists are defying the challenge and demanding their freedom of speech.
Armenia: “Voting” Underway
With the presidential election in Armenia less than three months away, the Armenia Election Monitor 2008 blog reports that voting is already underway. However, rather than casting votes for a presidential candidate, the vote taking place is being conducted by one political party interested in learning which of two possible...
