Stories from 24 January 2008
Cuba: Yes or No?
Post-Cuban elections, Child of the Revolution wonders whether or not Fidel Castro will remain as head of the Council of State.
Barbados: Opposition Leader Sworn In
Cheese-on-bread! says: “Mottley created history since she is the first female Opposition Leader in Barbados”.
Bahamas: Fixing Crime
“With all the shock-horror at our skyrocketing crime rate, you would never believe that the causes and progress of the country's social breakdown have been fully documented over the past 20-odd years”: Larry Smith at Bahama Pundit recommends a “back to your roots” approach to deal with crime.
Uzbekistan: Perpetuum Mobile?
Ibragim says that a teenager from the academic school in Samarqand, Uzbekistan, allegedly invented a “perpetual” car engine powered by a very unusual kind of fuel – air.
Turkmenistan: Common Sense and Enlightened Absolutism
Maciula wonders about the real meanning of the last steps of the President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov’s mean for Turkmenistan: beginning of democratization or return to normality dictated by common sense.
Afghanistan: Holbrooke on Bush’s “ineffective” counter-narcotics plan
Bipasha Ray reports that former UN Ambassador Richard Holbrooke tackles the issue of the Bush administration’s counter-narcotics policy in Afghanistan calling the billion-dollar-per-year plan the “single most ineffective program in the history of American foreign policy”.
Hong Kong: Pro-establishment to Prepare for Universal Suffrage
Tsang Yok-shing writes in his blog and advises pro-establishment comrades that they should be prepared for universal suffrage on 2017 and try not to presume the central government will prevent that from happening (zh).
South Korea: New President to Close the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family
Jamie from Two Koreas blogs about women organizations’ petition against the newly elected president Lee Myung Bak's plan to close the ministry of Gender Equality and Family.
South Korea: Youtube Enters
Michael from Scribblings of the Metropolitician has been asked to make a welcome video for Youtube Korea. The slogan is YT Korea – fighting.
Morocco: Censorship Update
2006 was a rough year for Moroccan internet freedoms, with several sites being blocked; 2007 wasn't much better with sites that were previously open becoming only sporadically accessible. Moi, dans tous mes états (fr) summarized freedom of internet (as well as other forms of media) in a recent post: A...
Cambodia: High Dynamic Range images of Phnom Penh
Phnom Penh based blogger Mythical Dude shares some High Dynamic Range images of the city of the city on his Flickr page.
Brunei: Signing International Agreements
The Daily Brunei Resources explains the process that takes place in the background when two countries sign an international agreement.
Philippines: Heath Ledger's Death
Blogs like Cyberpunk's So Called Life are commenting on hollywood actor Heath Ledger's death.
Bolivia: Preparations for Carnaval
Sandro Choque of the Cultural Center Sartañani Wasuru Qhanampi in Oruro, Bolivia writes about the preparations for this year's Carnaval, including rehearsals for the different groups that will present on February 2.
Colombia: Disparity Between the Number of Male and Female Bloggers
Juliana Rincón provides some hypotheses as to why there are more male bloggers, than female bloggers in Colombia [es].
Paraguay: Guaraní in State Documents
Elyacare [es] writes about the campaign in Paraguay to include the indigenous language of Guaraní into the official state documents like identification cards and passports.
Philippines: Becoming An American Citizen
About A Nurse talks her American Citizenship Oath Taking Ceremony and reflects on her life in America and Australia.
El Salvador: Private Citizen's Data
A recent newspaper article stated that the private data of all citizens of El Salvador is contained in a database belonging to a Guatemalan company. Hunnapuh [es] provides some tips, some extreme, to hide in a clandestine fashion, including,
Guatemala: Potential Teacher Strike
The Union of Education Workers in Guatemala has announced a teacher's strike for January 31 if the administration of the new president Álvaro Colom does not attend to their demands. Luis Figueroa of Carpe Diem [es] states that the union is sizing Colom up and may determine how the next...
Argentina: Rapid Trains to Rosario and Córdoba
TBA Me Mata [es] provides an opinion on the rapid trains from Buenos Aires to the Argentine cities of Rosario and Córdoba, including that it will be too expensive for ordinary citizens, who will continue to use alternative forms of transport.
Chile: Hunger Strike by Mapuche Activist
The Latin Americanist writes about a Chilean Mapuche activist that has been on a 100-day fast protesting her ten-year jail sentence.
