Stories from 29 January 2008
Albania, Italy: Adrian Paci
Living in Shkoder writes about the work of Adrian Paci, an Albania-born, Italy-based artist.
Bosnia & Herzegovina: Against Division
Balkanizer comes up with “an argument against the division of Bosnia-Herzegovina.”
Belarus, Latvia: “Ploshcha”
Marginalia watches Ploshcha (“The Square”), a film about the March 2006 mass protests in Minsk – “and watching it is a good way to mark Ceauşescu's birthday and Suharto's death” – and muses on freedom in Latvia and the lack of it in Belarus.
Latvia: Law Firm's Name Change Attempt
Can you imagine a law firm with a name like this: “Viss mainījies skaļi klusēja migla virs pļavām aiz upes un jenotiņš to sajuta tik skaidri ka aizrāvās elpa un nosvīda uz ceļgaliem rātni uzliktās ķepiņas.” Latvian authorities cannot, either, according to Latvian Abroad.
Poland: New Government's Problems
The beatroot reports: “‘Civic Platform are clueless.’ That’s what many are saying of Poland’s still fledgling government. It must be the shortest political honeymoon in history.”
Slovenia: Janša, Janša, Janša
Adventures in Wheelville writes about “the new (and rather mysterious) art group Janša, Janša, Janša, a group of artists who'd recently changed their names to that of the Prime Minister for reasons which they would not divulge to the public.”
Serbia: Belgrade's Past
Belgrade 2.0 muses on Belgrade's past and posts some old videos.
Ukraine: Tymoshenko's Ideologies
Ukrainiana is somewhat confused about Yulia Tymoshenko's position: “Here we go again, cruising the ideological avenues of the world: from solidarism to Thatcherism; from pondering membership in the Socialist International to praising Sarkozy; from advocating aggressive privatization to promoting the idea of mild government-subsidized mortgage rates. How does it all...
Brazil: Is it time to become media?
Cardoso [pt] is one of the bloggers invited to speak about “The blogs phenomenon – is it time to become media?” on an international summit of digital communication taking place in March in Brazil. He says that this event is important because “blogs are being recognized as “something” (what this...
Dubai: Getting to Grips with Inflation
“I've been banging on about the effects of inflation on business, and the economy in general, for a while, so it's good to see that important people are now going public with their concerns. And it's very good to see the media actually reporting it,” notes Seabee, who is based...
Bahrain: Are Gulf Arabs Lazy?
Earlier this week the Bahraini Labour Minister Majid Al Alawi was interviewed in the pan-Arab newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat, and in the interview he said that the Gulf was facing an 'Asian tsunami' because Gulf nationals are 'lazy' and 'spoilt' and depend on imported labour to do even simple tasks. He said that that the nearly 17 million foreign workers in the Gulf, mostly Asian, represented 'a danger worse than the atomic bomb or an Israeli attack'. What do Bahraini bloggers think?
Egypt: 40th Cairo International Book Fair
Eman AbdElRahman is in love with January, all the more because a world-class book fair is just outside her doorsteps. In this post, she shares with us the excitement of other Egyptian bloggers with the event, as well as their complaints, and the cultural extravaganza on its sidelines.
Brazil: More on the yellow fever panic caused by the media
“If I know well the Brazilian media, far from apologizing for having made a mistake and encouraged Brazilians – all Brazilians – to get vaccinated, there will be an attempt to blame the government ALSO for the instances where there was reaction to the vaccine. There are more people admitted...
Brazil: Police goes Wi-Fi on Carnival
Andre Lemos [pt] reports that the police of Salvador will use wi-fi network to provide security to revelers at the Carnival. There will be 400 computers in 60 points of the city, which the police will avail to consult, in real time, information about accidents, criminal records and data from...
Brazil: Recife is the most violent of the capitals
The report “Map of Violence in Brazilian Municipalities 2008″, launched earlier today by the Latin American Technological Information Network, shows that Recife, capital of Pernambuco, is top of the ranking of capitals with most homicides recorded in Brazil. Rio de Janeiro is in the 6th position on the same ranking....
Cape Verde: Getting read to debate the blogosphere
djoyamado [pt] makes a roundup of Cape Verde blogs, some of them are debating quite hot issues. This is a post preparing to a “virtual” debate on the state of the country's blogosphere.
Trinidad & Tobago: Panorama
Thebookmann reports on the pervasive mood as Trinidad and Tobago steelbands move closer to the Panorama finals.
Trinidad & Tobago: On Not Eating Meat
“I am not the preachy sort of vegetarian,” declares Trinidadian Nicholas Laughlin, as he links to an article that “summarises so succinctly the good reasons to stop eating meat–or at least reduce the amount one eats…”
Sri Lanka: Draconian censorship!
Free Media Sri Lanka on how the Defense Secretary openly states that he is in favour of draconian censorship and criminal defamation.
Sri Lanka: Travel, TV and Military
groundviews on the all-pervasive fear created by the conflict in Sri Lanka – from transport to media.
Nepal: Madheshi and Federalism
Bahas on the issue of Madheshi movement in Nepal – perhaps becoming a separatist threat rather than a federalist struggle.
