Stories from 21 February 2008
Slovenia: The Erased
Sleeping with Pengovsky writes about the plight of Slovenia's “erased” residents.
Russia: Amateur Astronomy
De Rebus Antiquis Et Novis writes about amateur astronomy in Russia.
U.S.: 50 Russians for Obama
Russia Blog writes about the results of “its own humble, non-scientific poll”: Yuri Mamchur asked 50 Russians about which U.S. presidential candidate they would have preferred – and all 50 said it was Barack Obama.
Uzbekistan blocks Newsuz.com website
It has been reported that the Uzbek-language website Newsuz.com has been blocked in Uzbekistan. “After a series of critical publications on human rights issues, gas supply issues, and price growth, and also analytical publications on the recent elections, we began receiving letters with threats and demands to follow information posted...
Europe, Canda, U.S.: Serbian Protests
Byzantine Sacred Art Blog invites Diaspora Serbs to protests “against illegal amputation of Kosovo” that are planned to be held in North America and Western Europe this coming weekend.
Syria: The Changing Face of Syria
Syria, is a country that is still "officially" considered a Socialist country. The socialist policies in Syria date all the way back to 1958, when Egypt and Syria formed the United Arab Republic, under the leadership of Gamal Abd el-Nasser. It was a very short lived republic that ended in 1961 but marked the turn of Syrian politics and economy into the socialist thinking. That continued after the Baath party took power in the March 8th coup d'etat. But all that is changing now.
Barbados, Cuba: Castro's Legacy
As David Thompson praises the Castro legacy, Barbados Free Press says: “A damned shame. We had hoped for better from the new Prime Minister.”
Africa: Interrogating the blogosphere
Koluki interrogates the blogosphere by looking at the Globl Voices Online coverage of “Portuguese-speaking African countries”: “The most striking observation from this graph is that OC appears not only, as we have seen before, as the “undisputed champion” of GVO reporting about the “Angolan blogosphere”, but also as the “champion”...
Japan: Gov't to admit Burmese refugees
At the Glocom blog, there is news that the Japanese government is planning to admit refugees from Burma now staying in Thailand.
Trinidad & Tobago: Cultural Preservation
“Even as we fret about the loss of our historic architecture, we are losing the architects of our history”: Blogging from Trinidad & Tobago, The Liming House writes about the importance of preserving “our collective memory.”
Japan: Advertisers abandon print, move online
Japanese blogger and journalist Fujishiro Hiroyuki at Gatonews summarizes results [ja] from a report [ja] issued by Japan's largest on ad agency Dentsu on advertising sales in Japan over the year 2007. The figures indicate a shift away from newspapers and magazines and toward online media: compared to figures from...
Jamaica, Trinidad & Tobago: Moon Shadow
The Life and Times of Michmac and Caribbean Free Radio post photos of last night's lunar eclipse.
Jamaica: School's Out
“Jamaican teachers have taken a stand that they will no longer tolerate the impish, rude, violent and classless behaviour which takes place in our schools”: Jamaican Lifestyle blogs about the island's “bad behaving school children.”
Hong Kong: Indecent and Obscene Classification
ESWN translated Next magazine's feature on how obscene articles tribunal adjudicators classify sexy photos gate.
Kenyan Bloggers Outline Political Solutions
From the high street cafes to the dark alleys in Nairobi's river road (down town), Kenyans can be heard discussing what former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan should prescribe as the compromise. There are voices of hope and optimism as well as prophets of doom who see the current exercise as mere puppetry. The role of the international community has also been discussed accross the divide. This situation is also reflected in the blogosphere.
China: Tiananmen 2.0
Feng37 set up a blog called Tiananmen 2.0. It is a fan blog for Hu Jia and Zheng Jinyan.
China: Premier Wen, Please Visit your Neighbor
During the snow storm, Premier Wen Jiabo has been traveling around the country and visiting victims of the storm. Tiger temple urged Premier Wen to visit his neighbor, homeless in Qainmen. The city control team has torn away their shelters in cold weather (zh).
Georgia: Patarkatsishvili Dies
TOL Georgia comments on the death of Badri Patarkatsishvili in London at the age of 52. The blog remembers Georgia's richest man who in recent years has been synonymous with support for opposition groups in the country and who was harshly critical of the Georgian authorities. However, the blog reminds...
Taiwan: Release Netizen!
The Hong Kong sexy photo gate effect has extended to Taiwan. Police has arrested a netizen who shared photos with others under local obscenity censorship law. Portnoy pointed out that the police has no power to define the nature of the photos, and Taiwanese has the right to enjoy pleasure....
Armenia: Karabakh Control
Nazarian reports that a day after the 19 February presidential election marked the 20th anniversary of the Karabakh movement. Demanding the unification of the territory of Nagorno Karabakh with Armenia proper and causing a war with neighboring Azerbaijan, Nazarian wonders if it the Karabakh movement wasn't a mistake now that...
Armenia: Disputed Election
Nazarian says that the 20 February presidential election in Armenia might well have been the worst in the country's short history as an independent post-Soviet republic. However, international observers said it largely complied with international standards.
